Simpson County school officials are working to find adult volunteers to participate in a program that links students with local professionals who work in areas they wish to pursue careers in for mentoring sessions.

Mary Shipley, a guidance counselor at Franklin-Simpson Middle School, said this program, known as Operation Preparation, helps students figure out what careers they’re interested in and lets them know what sort of classes to take in high school to get a head start.

“We ask community members to volunteer,” she said. “We pair them with each of our eighth-graders based on their career choice. They sit down and have an advising session with them.”

Input from professionals in the fields the students are interested in is important to their development, Shipley said.

“It just helps them understand expectations and requirements for future jobs,” she said.

The district holds Operation Preparation twice a year, once for eighth-graders and once for 10th-graders, Shipley said.

This year, eighth-graders at Franklin-Simpson Middle School will be participating in Operation Preparation on Wednesday and Thursday and March 22 and 23, she said.

The program has been in operation for about five years and sees many previous volunteers return each year, Shipley said.

Volunteers mentor students for about 30 minutes in the school’s library during the regular school day and base their advising on a rubric the school provides, which includes the sorts of classes students should take to get started in their desired career, she said.

“They’re asked in high school to choose a career pathway so this can help them to make that decision,” she said.

Though the district tries to provide each student with a local professional, the number of available volunteers may require one of them to speak to multiple students at once, she said.

Community Education Director Robin Hollingsworth, who recruits the program’s volunteers, said community members enjoy participating in the program because of the impact it has on local youngsters.

“They embrace it because it’s their chance to come in and participate in a project that helps young people in the community,” she said.

Superintendent Jim Flynn has observed Operation Preparation both as an administrator and as a participant.

Flynn, who has worked as a pharmacist and assistant archeologist, will sometimes volunteer to work with students interested in similar fields if no local practitioner can be found, though he said it’s better for students to discuss the careers they want with people more actively involved in those fields.

“We always try to find someone who actually does that job,” he said.

As a volunteer, Flynn tries to get to know the student, learn what kind of career they wish to pursue and talk about his own experience in similar fields before examining the sorts of classes they should take to prepare themselves and telling them about “experiences that will enrich their lives and make them stand out,” he said.

“It really does help them and make a difference for our students,” he said. “It gives them an opportunity to gain a different insight into that career they’re interested in.”

Flynn said volunteers taking time out of their days to guide students is encouraging for the students.

“It sends a message from our community that they are worth our time and attention,” he said.

“It sends a message from our community that they are worth our time and attention,” Simpson schools Superintendent Jim Flynn said of an advising program.