BRTC’s Career and Technical Center Students Hear from Guest Speakers in Various Occupations

Jana Caldwell, Guest Speaker

POCAHONTAS, AR Dec. 1—During the month of October, Black River Technical College’s Career and Technical Center (CTC) students, high school juniors and seniors earning college credit, heard from guest speakers in various occupations.

On October 15, BRTC’s CTC students heard from local realtors, Beth Cupp of Doty Real Estate in Paragould and Jana Caldwell of Carter Realty in Pocahontas. Cupp and Caldwell shared that buying a home is the largest purchase in most people\’s lifetime and explained the importance of a good credit score, what FHA and Rural Development loans are, and the necessity of homeowner\’s and renter\’s insurance.

On October 22, Craig Weisenbach, foreman, and Lyndal Hutsell, safety manager, of Clay County Electric spoke to the class. Weisenbach and Hutsell discussed career opportunities in their field, ranging from being a journeyman lineman to working in human resources, IT, or customer service.

Later in the day on the 22^nd, students also learned about various careers in the healthcare industry from BRTC faculty and staff, Jason Linam, Director of Respiratory Care; Dana Clay, Academic Advisor for Allied Health; and Christina Derbes, Dietetics Instructor.

Darenda Kersey, Director of Career, Technical, and Concurrent Education, expressed how grateful she is to the volunteers who took time out of their day to speak to the CTC students by stating, “I truly appreciate the speakers’ willingness to come to campus and share valuable information with BRTC students.”

For more information about the Career and Technical Center, contact Darenda Kersey by phone at (870) 248-4000, ext. 4184 or by email at darenda.kersey@blackrivertech.edu, or visit http://blackrivertech.org/about/departments/career_and_technical_center.