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Seton LaSalle students receive on-the-job training as part of symposium

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 6 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Mark DeIntinis, general manager of Distrikt Hotel-Pittsburgh, speaks to students about careers in hospitality management during a career symposium at Seton LaSalle High School.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Tarah Cormack explains how she determined that nursing would be her occupation during a career symposium held at Seton LaSalle High School.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Alexis Riske and Malia Sigg were among the enthusiastic students attending the career symposium held at Seton LaSalle.

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Dr. John Scarpino was the keynote speaker at the career symposium held at Seton LaSalle High School. He earned his doctorate in information systems and communications from Robert Morris University. He addressed students on today's tech health at the global, national and regional levels as well as denoted keys to success as they carve out their career paths.

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William Lestitian tells students about the law profession during a career symposium held at Seton La Salle High School. A Notre Dame alumnus, Lestitian earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He serves as managing shareholder of Rothman Gordon, P.C., on of Pittsburgh's largest law firms and is head of its corporate practice group.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Patrick Manning talks to students interested in pursuing careers in physical therapy during a symposium held at Seton LaSalle High School. He is the president and CEO of Manning Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Inc.

High school students may want to become accountants, doctors, lawyers, policemen, firemen or engineers, but Tim Zugates has some sobering news for these single-occupation dreamers.

“Ain’t gonna happen,” the Seton LaSalle guidance counselor said. “You’re 16-, 17-, 18-years old. So, don’t tell me what you are going to do for the rest of your life because you are not going to do that.

“Today’s students are not going to be like their parents or their grandparents with only one career,” he added. “They are going to find themselves in several different ones as they move through life.”

To help the students negotiate their way through the myriad possibilities, Zugates along with fellow counselor Judy Caves organize a career symposium, which is typically offered every other year at the high school.

Students in each grade level had the opportunity to choose from a list of careers they wished to learn more about and after listening to those choices, Seton La Salle arranged for professionals to speak to the students regarding the selected occupations.

“We are trying to expose the students to various careers. Not with the intention of making them choose something but to expose them to a number of things,” said Zugates, who has worked for 40 years at his alma mater. “The idea is to take a look at what’s available out there.”

Students had the opportunity to schedule sessions with four different speakers regarding professions they wish to pursue.

Occupations ranged from accounting to photography, serving in the armed forces to working as a veterinarian.

Students also had the opportunity to learn more about the culinary arts, engineering, landscaping, journalism, finance, religious life, public relations, computer technology, physical therapy, law and medicine.

The array of options satisfied the interest of students Alexis Riske from South Park and Malia Sigg of Bethel Park.

While Riske leaned toward the sciences, selecting software and mechanical engineering as well as finance and computer technology as her topics, Sigg picked occupations that favored interaction with people and service to others. She opted to attend the classes that discussed special education, event planning, nursing and physical therapy.

“I’m interested in special education, but I picked the others because they sounded interesting and I wanted to learn more about them,” Sigg said.

Riske, however, used the experience to sort out what she already knows will be her life’s work.

“Definitely engineering,” she said. “I am really good at math and I like using those concepts to be creative and find new things.

“I chose my sessions because I want to figure out what I want to do in college and to figure out which engineering I want to go into,” Riske added.

Faith Kisker of Mt. Lebanon attended the seminar although she is a senior who already knows that she wants to go into the medical field and pursue a career as a doctor. She was grateful her school presented such an opportunity to learn more about a varied selection of careers.

“I think it is really important for the school to have a career day because a lot of people, even though at such a young age, they are being asked to know what they are going to do in life and what they want to major in at college, but how can you know what you want to do with your life if all you know is what you are passionate about,” Kisker said. “But if you go to these career sessions and you hear from these people then that can really shape how you look at your future.”

Patrick Manning sees a bright future for many students in his designated career. He is president and CEO of Manning Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Inc, which has offices in Castle Shannon and Green Tree.

The University of Pittsburgh graduate was one of the nearly 50 presenters at the Seton LaSalle career symposium. Manning played football, basketball and baseball in high school and then worked with the Pitt football and basketball teams while he studied athletic training.

“I played sports and that’s what brought me into this field,” Manning said. “If I couldn’t play the game any more, then I wanted to work with athletes. The rate of students going into this profession is high, especially if they played sports.”

While he did not attend Seton LaSalle, Manning had a special reason for giving back to the high school. His wife, Lisa, and son, Tyler, are alumni.

“When Mr. Zugates asked me if I would be interested in coming, I said ‘absolutely.’ It was important to be here,” Manning said.

“This symposium gives the students an opportunity to see what’s out there as far as jobs,” he added. “They may have an interest in a certain industry because they might have had an injury or type of illness and that brought them to physical therapy, but there are so many professions from which to pick.”

Tarah Cormack currently works as a nurse and said she was delighted to speak about her career to so many interested students. She noted how many of them already told her they were going to nursing school or pursuing their education at Duquesne or Gannon University. She hoped her advice proved beneficial.

“A lot of them have a better idea of what they can do now,” she said.

Cormack said she would not have passed on the chance to help her alma mater because she felt the career symposium provided a vital opportunity for students to see so many different people in occupations that are so varied from how they are portrayed.

“It’s different from what you see on television sometimes,” Cormack said. “It’s nice to also just talk to somebody too regarding all of the aspects of your career. There are always so many things that you can do and you never stop doing one specific thing.”

If students received that message, then Zugates said he accomplished his goal with the career symposium.

“Play the field,” he said of his students’ career prospetcs. “Know what’s out there. That’s the intent.

“We presented students with an array of options and we are very much appreciative of the time our presenters took to be here and talk to these kids. They may not realize it now but this symposium will be invaluable to them.”

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