Mentor program helps answer the question 'What do you want to do when you grow up?'

Students takes field trips, learn about different professions

MIRAMAR – Remember when you were growing up and everyone would ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

For some that's an easy question, but for many it can be agonizing.

 A local mentoring organization called Kapow  is working to help.

Recently a group of sixth-graders at Imagine Charter School in Weston had a field trip to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital's outpatient center in Miramar courtesy of Kapow,  a nonprofit that exposes students to careers from second grade to eighth grade.

 The program aims to encourage kids to dream big, and to have an idea of what they want to be when they grow up.

"They learn about fractures. They learn about orthopedics, they learn about radiology. They learn about what we do when we assess the patients and what we do in the urgent care center we walked them through it," Monica Ruiz Valls, of Nicklaus Children's Hospital said.

Just this year alone, Kapow has done almost 300 field trips in the over 71 South Florida schools they serve.

The field trips introduce students to careers in finance, law enforcement  and just about any field you could imagine.

They have seven one hour class session and then a field trip.

"It's been a great experience, like I haven't done the all-around but it's been amazing,"  Jorge Altuna, a student who aspires to be a surgeon, said.

 Lucas Rios, who wants to be a paramedic,  agreed.

"I think it's good for everyone because you get to learn about what kind of jobs you could be interested in in the future," he said.

Kapow has been funding these outings and lessons for 25 years with the help of 500 professional volunteers.