HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Being exposed to opportunities young can help shape a child’s entire future.
"Exposure is kind of like the threshold to the door of opportunity," Sr. Recreation Center Supervisor Kent Ballard shares. "We want to make sure that we open doors, that we expose them to great opportunities here within the city bounds and then making sure that they have some understanding of where they can go as a profession a little later."
The city of Huntsville’s Parks & Recreation Department partnered with Huntsville Hospital System to help campers become a 'Doctor for a Day.' "Today is a very unique event. We have an opportunity to host the Huntsville Hospital System today for what we're calling Doctors for Day," Ballard shares. "It really focuses on our campers and really exposing them to a whole world in health care. They'll have an opportunity to meet several different men and women in the field of health care; one x-ray technician, nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, and then several others that support the health care system as well."
This is the first of many exposure programs the campers will experience at the Dr. Richard Showers, Sr. Recreation Center. "This is the first time that we've hosted this type of event, but it won't be the last," Ballard states. "We have several others that are coming up, like entrepreneurship. We want to continue to expose them in several other ways here at this our center."
Ballard says that continued exposure will help build a network for the future. "The benefit is being able to create a greater network within the community in which they live," Ballard shares. "So, making sure that they understand, they see these faces maybe in the malls or grocery stores or whatever the case is. now they have a greater network of people that they might be able to pull on or call on when they need some level of insight or inspiration."