Cardinal O’Hara Career Day looks at health, security and tech jobs

TONAWANDA — Cardinal O’Hara High School alumni returned to their Alma Mater on March 13 for a special Career Day for current students. Alumni, experts in 10 different professions, outlined their field of expertise for the students so that the students could better understand the career field in which they were most interested.

Alumni included: Gina Pennell ’10, registered nurse who is a certified stroke and STEMI center nurse at Buffalo General Emergency Department. She encouraged students to be open to new possibilities and career challenges, highlighting a career as a critical care nurse.

Other presenters included: John Mellas ’10, an architect and architectural designer who works with all phases of design, discussed the challenges of being an architect; Ryan Kydd ’16, a police officer and a member of the SWAT team with the Niagara Falls Police Department who spoke about the law enforcement field; Jordan Kydd ’14, project manager for a local engineering firm who talked about the field of architecture, and Phil Spagna ’12, a sales rep working in medical sales whose topic included the path to his own success.

Also, Aly O’Neil-Kennedy ’13, a mammography technologist at Roswell Park, spoke about careers in radiologic technology sciences; Adam Gorski ’18, social media producer at News 4 Buffalo whose PowerPoint presentation outlined the importance of writing well and his work overseeing News 4 Buffalo’s social media accounts and creating social media graphic and videos for social media; Jalen Law ’10, an artist and educator who discussed navigating a career as an artist and muralist. In addition, he is a social-emotional intelligence coach who creates and delivers workshops related to mental well being.

Also, Jenna Tombolesi ’11, who is regional director, systems engineering, responsible for the cybersecurity of all public sector customers across seven states, with the goal of keeping schools and governments safe from cyberattacks; and James Shaw ’72, a maintenance mechanic and retired Coast Guard Search and Rescue team member, discussed a career with the Coast Guard and his work after retirement as a mechanic at Tyson Foods and Mod Pac. His mechanical trade background as a stationary engineer, certified welder, and industrial electrician presented students information regarding a career in the trades.

The day began with a welcome by Principal Joleen Dimitroff who introduced Gina Pennell ’10, who outlined the focus of Career Day.