Talk about your career at Monroe Boys and Girls Club

Love what you do?

Maybe a young person in Monroe would love what you do, too.

Many young people in Monroe don’t have a good understanding of all the career options available to them, said Marta Miller, Director of the Monroe Boys and Girls Club. So she is asking local people to come to the club during the month of March to give short presentations on their jobs to kids there, to help them figure out what they want to do with their lives.

Miller started the annual program last year after a discouraging comment she heard from a student.

“I make the kids show me their GPAs, and I had one girl say, ‘What’s the point? I’m never going to get out of Monroe or do anything.’ And I thought, how can I help them see all the things there are to do?” Miller said.

So every weekday in March of last year, she got speakers to come in and talk about what they did.

She arranged the speakers, including the mayor of Monroe, a stay-at-home mom with a side career, and the members of a dance troupe, to come in after school, when kids are coming in to hang out and get snacks.

She was afraid the kids would grab their snacks and leave, but that whole month, no kids walked out while the speaker was there, she said.

So this year, she’s doing it again.

Volunteers will talk for about 20 minutes to half an hour, and then will leave time for questions. Miller sends volunteers ideas on what to talk about.

“It could be, ‘here’s what I do, here’s why I chose to do it, this is how much schooling it took,’ the pros and cons, funny stories,” she said. “And you can bring pictures and things. One of our ladies was on 20/20; she brought that in.”

Volunteers can pick any open day in March, and choose a time between 2:45 and 4 p.m. to visit.

“My goal is that kids hear something that sparks their interest,” said Miller.

To learn more or to volunteer, call the Boys and Girls Club at (360) 794-0381.