High School Career Day -Reply

[Gerald Nicholls <GNICHOLL@dep.state.nj.us>]

I have done a number of these in my local community and have found
that they are most successful for me and the students when I focus on
one particular aspect of my work and then give them handouts,
references and/or web sites of a more general nature  to pursue on their
own after I leave.  

One year I focused on the the risks posed by nuclear power plants and
what the state's response was to those risks.  I brougt meters and
sources and dressed some of the students in protective clothing and had
them "hunt" for "contamination" in the form of sources I hid in the front of
the room.   Another year I focused on naturally occurring radioactivity in
an aquifer used by almost all of southern New Jersey for private wells
and what effect or non-effect it might have on a childhood cancer
cluster being investigated in our area (i.e., no effect). 

As general advice, don't just talk.  Have visual aids, things for them to do
or demos for them to observe.  Some of the more involved ones will be
interested in employment opportunities and even salary scales so having
some of that information with you can be helpful.  Leave time for
questions at the end of your presentation but also have something in
mind to do if they don't ask questions.  For example, "Well, if you don't
have a question for me, I have one for you: Would you live near a
nuclear power plant?  Why or why not?"  Each group of students is
different so, at least to some extent, you have to go with the flow.

The NJDEP Radiation Protection Program at
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/rpp/index.htm has a lot of New Jersey
specific information and links to many other radiation protection related
sites.

Good luck.

Gerald Nicholls
NJDEP 

>>> "Peter Skeels" <pskeels@REHS.rutgers.edu> 04/11/00 03:07pm >>>
Hello Radsafers,

I've been asked to speak at career day at the High Technology High 
School in New Jersey.  It's important to me to make a good impact 
on these students.  They're a very intelligent group, so the same old 
small talk will probably bore them.  So, I'm interested in getting as 
many ideas and as much information from other people who have 
worked at these type of events before.  I would appreciate any help 
you guys could give me.

Thanks, Peter Skeels
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and
subscription
information can be accessed at
http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html