BPIE’s second Pathfinders visit took us to a K2 classroom at the Rafael Hernández Dual Language K-8 School in Roxbury. Darlene Prado’s five- and six-year-old students listened attentively as Dr. Anne Antonellis, OB/GYN, read a book about becoming a doctor and answered many, many questions related to her work.
Several students shared that their parents were physicians, and one student remarked that they were born at the same hospital where Dr. Antonellis practices.
Dr. Antonellis added that she became a doctor because she “wanted to help people and help moms deliver their babies,” which elicited a stream of excitement from students who shared, “I was in my mom’s belly when I was a baby!” Finally, Dr. Antonellis acknowledged the importance of doing well in school to become a doctor, including going to college and then onto medical school, and how it is a long but satisfying journey.
There was a collective gasp followed by cheers when Dr. Antonellis announced that each student would get to listen to their heartbeat with her stethoscope. This was the perfect fun-filled and engaging activity to end the visit.
Pathfinders is available to students of all ages; Dr. Antonellis adjusted her visit to meet the attention spans of our youngest learners, while older students might benefit from a more in-depth discussion of career pathways and how to set themselves up for future success. With every Pathfinders visit, our goal is to identify a guest whose background aligns with classroom curriculum and teacher preferences. This means we’re continually in need of professionals representing a broad sector of fields and at varying levels in their career trajectory.
If you are interested in becoming a Pathfinder, please fill out our interest form available here and a member of our team will contact you about speaking with students! We hope this program will continue to engage students across the city and inspire the next generation of Bostonians.
