Why Participating in School Career Events Matters Looking at the career-focused calendar of events in our local schools this spring, we have many opportunities for businesses to participate. But why should businesses care about attending high school, or even elementary events?
When you look at the events below, they’re not just career fairs or mock interviews, they are also opportunities to introduce, and hopefully inspire, young people to start planning for a career in your field. It’s an excellent chance to teach a wide audience about your business and the industry at large, and the skills they’ll learn through working in your field. Even if you don’t have an immediate hiring need that could be filled by a student, you may think of this as “farming”. You are planting seeds early on to get them (or even perhaps someone in their network) familiar with a career path they might not have previously considered.
Bob Moore, Cooperative Education Coordinator from Venango Technology Center weighs in, “It all comes back to the old adage, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ To increase awareness of everything a business has to offer, it’s imperative that students are able to see the pride a business places in its products and services in order to become excited and engaged with the opportunities for them at these companies.”
When looking specifically at some of the VTC programs Moore adds, “Our ‘village’ needs more skilled workers and we all must do our part to mentor students and prove that the fields of mechanics and manufacturing will provide them with a solid path for the future. If students do not enroll at VTC we cannot train them in these areas, leading to continued struggle with meeting the needs of our workforce.”
Get Involved in Education!
3/16/23 – Titusville High School: Mock Interviews
• Contact Bridget O’Neill, boneill@gorockets.org
3/22/23 – Oil City High School: Career & College Fair
• Contact Bill Burkett, bburkett@mail.ocasd.org
3/24/23 – A-C Valley High School: Career & College Fair
• Contact Deanna Wakefield, deanna@uwvenango.org
4/5/23 – Valley Grove Elementary: Junior Achievement Event
• Contact Carrie Beightol, cbeightol@staff.vgsd.org
4/5/23 – Forest Area School District (Marienville): Career Readiness Day
• Contact Rebekah Woods, rebekah@uwvenango.org
5/4-23/23 – Remake Learning Days (community-wide)
• Contact Kelsi Wilcox Boyles, kboyles@riu6.org
5/10/23 – Venango Technology Center: Student Employment Event
• Contact Sarah Campbell, scampbell@vtc1.org
5/31/23 – Venango Technology Center: Co-op Signing Day
• Contact Bob Moore, bmoore@vtc1.org
To learn more about the Chamber’s involvement in education, join our email list at: www.venangoready.org or view the education page at: www.venangochamber.org/education
This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s March 2023 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.