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Exploring Futures: The Legacy of Career Day at JTD

By Ramon Rodriguez, Caroline Christopher, and Malvia Acosta-Rowe
There are many reasons students treasure their time at The John Thomas Dye School; time-honored traditions like the Carols program, Candlelighting, Grade 4 Landmark projects, and the Kindergarten Nutcracker are all a part of the unique elementary experience at our school. Each grade level provides many beloved traditions, but no grade level provides more than the sixth grade. First as a parent and now one of the Upper School math teachers, one Grade 6 tradition holds a very special place in my heart. Ten years ago, I was entrusted with the responsibility of continuing Career Day, a Grade 6 tradition that dates back to 1989, when it was introduced as a continuation of a Grade 5 project by former JTD teacher, Ruth Furst.
In early December of their sixth-grade year, the Grade 6 Math team introduces one of the most popular traditions of this culminating year – Career Day. Students are asked to make a list of three careers they are curious about. Once the math teachers have collected their lists, we meet with our phenomenal Room Parent Career Day Committee that then goes to work matching students with their top career choice. Our committee members never cease to amaze students and teachers alike with the connections they make on behalf of our Grade 6 students. Students who express interest in learning about a career in medicine are connected with surgeons at UCLA, those who lean towards careers in finance have visited professionals at Goldman-Sachs, budding architects have visited Caruso, aspiring chefs have spoken with Michelin-star restaurateurs, and the list goes on. 

You may ask, and many have, how does this project make its way into the math classroom? Students spend some time constructing a budget before visiting their Career Day hosts. Each Grade 6 student is assigned a starting salary, comparable to a starting salary for a professional in their chosen field. Once their salary is known, students apply key concepts learned in our Upper School math curriculum, including percentages, decimal operations, and proportional reasoning to create an accurate and balanced budget. Our students will say what they really learn is that living within one's means is a challenge and finding a place to live on a starting salary is both difficult, but quite fun. 
 
The architect of this treasured JTD tradition is still a highly active member of our community. After a long career at JTD in Upper School Math, Ruth Furst traded in her classroom for the board room, now serving as a JTD Trustee (and a current grandparent!). Ruth shared that Career Day actually grew organically from a Grade 5 stock market project which she launched in the 1980s. As Mrs. Furst recalls, students charted a stock for several weeks, and then shared the results with their classmates. Parents who worked in finance, volunteered to talk to the math class about the stock market to give students a more global perspective. After seeing the success of her project, Ruth was inspired to do something for Grade 6 students that would build on the stock market project. She decided students would create a monthly budget, display it on a circle graph, and learn about managing their money responsibly. Judy Hirsch, the JTD Director of Admissions at the time, offered to organize parent volunteers to host students at their respective workplaces, and Career Day was born! 

We clearly owe a debt of gratitude to Ruth Furst, Judy Hirsch, and hundreds of JTD parents who through the years have collaborated to make Career Day one of the most beloved traditions of our capstone year! 

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The John Thomas Dye School


11414 Chalon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Phone: (310) 476-2811
The John Thomas Dye School admits students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

Located In Los Angeles, CA, John Thomas Dye is an independent school for grades K-6. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.