STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Lincoln Terrace Elementary students (from left) Dylan Sprouse, 6; Jazzmine Hairston, 6; Nehemiah Reid, 6; Alexia Maxey, 7; and Summer Hodges, 6, learn some karate skills from Sean Elliott Sr. during career day.

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Remember what it was like when everyone in your first-grade class dreamed of being a firefighter, a baseball player or a ballerina?

Friday was career day at Lincoln Terrace Elementary School, an annual event that introduces elementary students to a variety of careers by bringing in local professionals to talk about their jobs. Children are learning about the wide world of career choices at a young age.

Sure, there are still the aspiring superheroes, police officers and fashion designers, but now many students have dream jobs they never knew existed.

Breona Williams was interested in health. A fifth-grader with impressive goals, she said she wants to go to Virginia Tech, become a chemist and cure cancer and diabetes.

Monica Johnson, the guidance counselor at Lincoln Terrace, is in her fourth year at the school and her fourth career day with some of the students. She said there is a noticeable difference in what the students learn from career day as they get older and learn the importance of education.

"The fifth-graders understand why they're here," she explained. "The older kids are more aware."

The youngest participants of career day are in kindergarten, and they loved talking to firefighters and learning about their equipment, especially the fire trucks.

"But these guys are like little sponges," Johnson said, looking at a group of first-graders.

Regardless of age, the students are more receptive to presenters who have something to show, rather than just say.

"I tell them to try to relate to what's going on at their level," she said.

Sean Elliot Sr., the owner of SuperKicks Black Belt Leadership Academy, offers a karate demonstration that is an annual favorite. Even as he explains the proper way to deal with bullying -- don't fight back, tell a teacher -- the children listen attentively.

In another room, a group of fifth-graders is encouraged to speak up. Robin Harrell, a nurse with Heartland Home Healthcare, asks question after question and encourages the students to touch some the equipment she brought along.

"They're still at ages where some of it still scares them," she said. "But I think getting their hands on it helps."

The students were a captive audience. The 11-year-olds Harrell talked to will almost certainly change their minds about their jobs before finishing school, but for now their aspirations are high.

Jasmine Thompson wants to be a singer and dancer like Mariah Carey and Keisha Cole, her favorites, and she knows she's going to work hard to make it happen.

"You have to have a good education ... stay focused and plan ahead."