Gwinnett students exploring careers

Georgia has started requiring middle schools to offer courses about various careers, but Gwinnett has taken that emphasis further.

Gwinnett has two camps to give middle schoolers hands-on experience they would not otherwise have until their junior year in high school. One camp was this week, the other is next week. Gwinnett is also working with Junior Achievement to open a Discovery Center in the county by 2015 that will allow middle school students to run a business and learn about financial literacy. There are 25 such centers nationwide. The Gwinnett center is expected to serve 25,000 students annually.

“When they get into high school, they’d be a little bit more familiar with what does (a particular career) look like and what does it mean to me,” explained Debbie Daniel, who is working with Junior Achievement on the center and is director of Gwinnett’s social studies program.