Sophomores, juniors and seniors from Covington County high schools got a chance to pick the brains of leaders in several technical fields Wednesday during a career-tech seminar held at the Board of Education’ central office.

Amber McKathan, career coach for students at Straughn, Red Level, Pleasant Home and Florala high schools, said the seminar was a great way to give students a glimpse into the world of people working in several of today’s leading fields.

“The seminar was for 10th through 12th-graders in career-tech courses,” McKathan said. “I had spoken with (several of the speakers) and they said they wanted to come talk to the kids, and I just thought, we should do this all in one day.”

McKathan said the day’s speakers included: Bobby Jon Drinkard, project manager for AIDT; Liliana Vera, staffing and development manager for Chevron; Courtney Bowers, transmission engineer for Power South; Michelle Hunter Conway, project engineer for Goodwyn Mills and Cawood; and Dwight Owens, a professional motivational speaker.

McKathan said each speaker brought his or her own, unique perspective to share with students.

“Vera spoke about the importance of a college education for careers like engineering with companies like Chevron,” she said. “Conway kind of gave them an overview of a day in the life of a civil engineer.”

McKathan said Owens gave students pointers on ways they could be successful, no matter what career field they ultimately choose.

“Owens talked about making everyday count,” she said. “He talked about how each decision you make can affect the rest of your life, and about the importance of forming good relationships.”

McKathan said the students’ responses to the program were overwhelmingly positive.

“They seemed to enjoy it a lot,” she said. “They asked a lot of good questions, and several of them said they learned a lot.”

As an added bonus, McKathan said two female students chosen from each high school were able to attend a luncheon after the seminar that featured the female speakers.

“They talked about women in the workforce and promoting the role of women in engineering, and things like that,” she said.

Overall, McKathan said 430 students were present for Wednesday’s seminar.

For more information on Wednesday’s seminar, or the county career-tech program, call McKathan at 334.222.7571.