The sixth grade class at John Brown Francis Elementary School transformed into professionals June 12 for the school’s first career fair.

Geralyn Bergeron, a guidance counselor with the help of sixth grade teachers Karen Monteiro and Lissa Gammelin, hosted the fair that students attended dressed as they would for the profession they wish to have one day. The John Brown Francis auditorium was filled with veterinarians, dancers, nurses, doctors of all types, graphic designers and more.

Sixth graders have been researching their professions since October, working on this project every other Friday.

They started by using Way to Go RI, an online career planning website run by the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority for all ages.

For elementary students the site offers personality quizzes that ask various yes or no questions about preferences and then determines a list of jobs that fit character type. Students narrowed their research to three of those jobs and then picked only one for their final project.

In their research students determined the education needed for that job, how much that education would cost, average salary and job outlook, as well as courses that could be taken in high school to prepare.

Bergeron said as students move onto middle school it is especially important for them to do “transitional planning,” and a project like this helps them focus on the paths they may want to take to prepare for a career in middle and high school.

The two classes even took a field trip to the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center.

“Some of them like those who want to go into graphic design saw that they can really start on their careers in high school,” Bergeron said.

Monteiro and Gamelin agreed that this is the time students need to start thinking about future careers and “how hard they are going to have to work to get to where they want to be and be successful in it.”

Teachers said most of the students’ careers matched their personalities “amazingly so” and the students were really invested throughout the whole project.

Those students dressed up as veterinarians with scrubs filled with pictures of cats and dogs, like Brianna Martin, said they had always loved animals and wanted to work with them.

Others like Caroline Taylor, who was a pediatrician for the day, said she has always been interested in the medical field, but also enjoys babysitting and taking care of children so wanted to find a job that brought the two together.

Some students looked into occupations that highlighted things they were already good at like Zachary Guadlap and Noel Rodriguez, who wanted to be a construction worker and graphic designer, respectively.

Zachary has been building birdhouses for a while with his father and Noel already loves to draw, but loved the idea of adding the use of a computer for art.

Matthew Maggiacomo looked into becoming a district attorney because both his uncle and grandfather were one.

When asked why he would make a good district attorney Matthew said, “I’m very influential; I don’t give up on a statement.”

Mia Sherman had one of the more unexpected occupations of the group, having researched being a cosmetic plastic surgeon, clad in scrubs, mask and rubber gloves for the career fair.

A self-titled “perfectionist,” she said she was looking forward to doing a rhinoplasty, or a nose job, one day.

“I like seeing people happy with themselves and I’d like to be a part of helping them feel that,” Mia said.

The children all expressed an enthusiasm for the project and some even said it helped them find what they want to be when they enter into the work place.

Mia said, “This is what I want to do, and now I know all about it and what I need to do to get there.”