Joliet West And Central Host Virtual Career Panels For Students

Press release from Joliet Township High School District 204 :

For the past five years, Joliet West librarians and academy coordinators have collaborated in putting together a series of Academy Career Weeks to promote career exploration among students. A few years later, Joliet Central academy coordinators and librarians began the program for Central students, and this week, the program expanded further with librarians from both schools joining together to kick off the first district-wide virtual career exploration series with a Forensics & Law Career Panel featuring 10 law professionals in our community.

Using Zoom, the professionals shared information about their careers and answered student questions.

Forensics and Law panelists included Bailee Myers, Assistant Public Defender Cook County, Criminal Defense; Rachel Baker, Assistant Public Defender Cook County, Felony Trial Division; Caroline Glennon, Assistant Public Defender Cook County, Homicide Task Force; Richard Gutierrez, Assistant Public Defender Cook County, Forensics; Natasha Adler Senior Attorney, Waltz, Palmer, & Dawson, LLC; Megan Shannon Associate Attorney, Stephan Zouras, LLP; Christopher Jensen Legal Counsel, City Colleges of Chicago; Marnie Slavin Criminal Defense Attorney, DCFS; Lauren Myerscough-Mueller Staff Attorney, The Exoneration Project; and Johanna Ojo Assistant Corporate Counsel, City of Chicago, Department of Law and Labor Division.

The career exploration continued Friday, October 30, with Education Careers and Social Services panels also taking place via Zoom.

Education Careers panelists included Nykisha Barefield, Assistant Director of Education & Support Services, Head Start, Catholic Charities; Shykira Richards, MSW, Project Manager, focused on Mental Health in Children and Families, Chicago Urban League; Missie Rolinitis, Director of Advanced Programs, U of St Francis College of Education; and Courtney Winfrey Director, Courtney Winfrey Education Project. Social Services panelists included Maria Tovar, MSW, Family Services Coordinator, Catholic Charities; Lorraine Guerrero-Neumayer, MSW, LSW, Senior Trauma Therapist, Will County Children’s Advocacy Center and JTHS School Board Member; Partricia Dokes, MSW, Adult Protective Services, Senior Services of Will County; and Christopher Wild, LPC, School Counselor, Joliet West High School.

Joliet Township High School thanks our community volunteers for sharing their knowledge and wisdom with our students. Community involvement continues in a virtual setting thanks to creative staff who think outside the box to provide relevant learning opportunities.

This press release was produced by Joliet Township High School District 204 . The views expressed here are the author’s own.