May 15, 2023

At Mercy Home, we want to make sure that all of our young people are prepared for success even beyond the time that they spend at our Home. One of the ways we do this is by exposing our kids to the many post-secondary options available to them.

With that in mind, our Associate Board Volunteer Committee, led by Nicole Tolentino and Jim Marek, organized a Post-Secondary Options night for our young people on both campuses. The night was planned for our kids to explore different career paths with the help and guidance of young professionals.

The evening began with a video Q & A with Sidney Lee, a Mercy Home alum who serves as the Director of Quality Tech Ops Engineering at Virgin Galactic. Lee talked about his upbringing, his experience at Mercy Home, and his current career in aeronautics. Lee was on the team that helped take Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson into space in July 2021.

Associate Board members then presented five different career paths for our kids to explore, including hospitality, sports, trades, healthcare, and STEM fields. The presentations included sample professionals with information about their backgrounds, degree, salary, and other details about what led them to their careers.

Each presentation was accompanied by a fun activity related to the career, including cookie decorating, making the most basketball free throws in 20 seconds, building the tallest structure with spaghetti and marshmallows, learning to properly use and apply a medical bandage, and watching an experiment where one of our volunteers made “elephant toothpaste.”

All of our young people had a great time learning about various fields and participating in the activities. They were engaged, asked questions, and generated great ideas and enthusiasm for their futures. It was a night of learning, exploration, and fun for everyone!

Thank you to Nicole Tolentino, Jim Marek, and the rest of the volunteers: Maura Carr, Cassie Belek, Dan Hack, Mario LoVerde, Michael Lyons, Drew Moore, Katie Mullen, Gannon O’Brien, and Molly Reilly for planning a great night for our kids!