July 9, 2025
When Candace Field studied interior design, she never expected it would lead to a career in accessibility. But her early work in the hospitality industry required an understanding of federal building codes and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That experience eventually guided her to her current role as Facilities Accessibility Program Manager, ensuring Port of Seattle facilities like Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) are accessible to all travelers.
Heather Karch began her Port career as an architect within the Facilities and Infrastructure (F & I) department. When she was promoted to Aviation F & I Architecture Manager, her responsibilities included serving as the ADA coordinator for SEA, a required position for public agencies like the Port.
This spring, Field and Karch joined other Port staff at Highline Public Schools’ Career Exploration Days to help students see how a career in accessibility can be both impactful and rewarding, and how it shows up in their day-to-day lives.
“I didn’t realize these jobs existed until I came to the Port,” Karch said. “It’s exciting to expose the next generation to a career field they can pursue — one that doesn’t necessarily require a college degree.”
Exploring career paths
Career Exploration Days introduces seventh graders at Highline middle schools — Chinook, Cascade, Glacier, Pacific, Sylvester, and the Choice Schools — to a wide variety of careers. The Port, which has an ongoing partnership with Highline to help students explore Port-related jobs, collaborated with Highline to create hands-on, engaging activities that sparked curiosity and offered insight into real-world jobs. Each session featured a presentation, interactive demonstrations, real-world tools, and engaging discussions to keep students involved. Port representatives from engineering, project management, and customer service also participated in the events.
Highline begins career exploration activities with students as early as preschool and continue through high school, ensuring students are exposed to diverse career paths early and often. “Our goal is that they graduate knowing what they are capable of pursuing in the future and can see potential opportunities for themselves,” said Emily Kuhn, Secondary Success Specialist at Highline Public Schools.
Kuhn said Highline works with partner organizations and businesses like the Port to highlight careers expanding and growing in Washington state with a variety of pathways. The events allow students to push against boundaries they’ve placed on themselves to see what’s possible for their futures.
Developmentally, students in middle school are deciding what is inside the realm of possibility and outside the realm of possibility, Kuhn said. By the time they hit high school, they have created boxes for themselves. Starting career exploration early on expands their realm of possibilities and breaks down their limits before they start applying for colleges or thinking about trade schools.
Why accessibility?
Performing career-related outreach within the communities surrounding SEA is a priority for Karch and Field’s team. They hoped to spotlight accessibility roles to help students see the value in careers that promote inclusion. These jobs not only offer good pay and growth opportunities, but they also align with the Port’s commitment to equity, diversity, and community outreach.
During the sessions students were introduced to the concept of accessibility and the purpose of the ADA regulation. Karch and Field asked students to raise their hands if they knew someone with a disability, if they knew what the ADA stood for, and if they could name a non-visible disability. Many students listed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or autism but hadn’t considered that impairments to vision and hearing are disabilities that also may be difficult to detect at first glance.
Students split into two groups: one group used canes and blindfolds to simulate visual impairment, while the other navigated an obstacle course using wheelchairs. The activity gave students a different perspective as it put them in the shoes of someone with a disability. They reflected on their experience, including needing help from others to find their way, barriers they noticed, and what happened when they encountered obstacles.
Field and Karch also used historical examples to help students understand how accessibility has evolved and the activism that led to change. In 1945 World War II veterans lobbied for greater accessibility of public sidewalks, and in the 1960s a group of disability activists created their own curb cuts (ramps that make it easier for people in wheelchairs to move from street to sidewalk). That act, as well as the Capitol Crawl, where activists with physical disabilities crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol, led to the eventual passage of the ADA 35 years ago.
Students were encouraged to think about how accessibility features help everyone — not just people with disabilities. Tools like closed captioning and text-to-speech were developed as alternative communication methods that bridge gaps for individuals with disabilities but now benefit the broader public. “The bigger point is that supporting one group benefits many,” Field said.
Kuhn said the sessions helped students connect with ways accessibility impacts their lives. “Accessibility affects our day-to-day experience, often without us realizing it. The way we experience the world is impacted by accessibility careers like an ADA coordinator, even if the students didn’t know that type of career exists.”
She added that students were also able to see how accessibility is important for their community. “Our students are problem solvers. They think about their community and what is best for their community, and accessibility is one way we all benefit.”
Subscribe to Connections for news from the Port and SEA Airport
