RATHDRUM — From photographers and teachers to audio engineers and basketball statisticians, a well of talent is going to spill out into the world from Mountain View Alternative High School.

On Tuesday, students participated in Senior Career Interview Day. They rotated in seven-minute sessions with community members who inquired about the careers they’re dreaming about and what they plan to do to pursue them.

This was the ninth year for the event. It serves as a part of students' senior project as well as an exercise for upperclassmen to prepare for the interview process when they’re ready to enter the workforce.

“What I’ve learned is my strengths,” senior Amagyne Brady said. “When someone asks me to tell them about myself, I would usually draw a blank. Through my senior English class and this class, along with my teacher, I feel like I’m able to answer those types of questions.”

Amagyne plans to go to North Idaho College and Lewis-Clark State College to earn degrees in social work.

“I want to help others,” she said. “To be a light in the dark.”

Senior Laveda Villa is the chair of the student council, working at Pizza Hut and she’s graduating early. She has her eyes set on a career in multimedia art and animation. Already creative and open-minded, Laveda realizes those qualities will help her along her career path.

“Ever since I was little I’ve been drawing,” she said. “My grandpa used to carve tables and make guitars for people. It’s really cool. I want to be like him, so I trained myself as an artist.”

Community members who volunteered to interview the students included a police officer, a city administrator, a journalist and a head pastor at a local church.

The volunteers rated the students on a scale of one to five, paying attention to their eye contact, interview appearance, ability to answer questions, professionalism and other items potential employers will be noting. Students who score the highest earn extra credit, as well as the confidence that comes with impressing people in an interview.

Mountain View teacher and Senior Career Interview Day coordinator Krista Bullard, who is a huge advocate for her students, said yes, the students were nervous, but this experience will help them as they develop into working professionals.

“It’s to give them, as much as we can, an authentic experience of a job interview, and to get feedback of how they can present themselves in their future careers,” she said. “Oftentimes, we don’t know how we did in the interview, we just know we didn’t get that job and we don’t get that feedback. I see that as a really great place for them to get that feedback of how others view them in a professional sense, and a first impression.

“To have that experience is just really helpful for them,” she said.