Last year, Laura Strickland, business teacher, worked on her own to put together the second annual job fair, an event held during the school day when students can learn about jobs and find employment. This year, the gifted resource center teamed up with Strickland in order to revamp the fair, with new interactive sessions.
Strickland said the job fair itself featured more than 30 employers who are all looking for experienced students. Strickland used district resources and personally reached out to employers to get them to come to the fair.
“It is a great time to practice networking and talking to professional folks,” Strickland said.
The career readiness workshops included a resume and job application workshop and a mock interview workshop, which were held on Wednesday, Feb. 26, and Monday, March 3, respectively. They both led up to the fair, which was held on Monday, March 10, during Ac Lab.
“I think that’s a great idea, getting students the ability to practice on some of these career readiness skills in a closer knit environment,” Strickland said. “[The workshops] were really successful.”
Strickland said she hopes to continue offering career readiness workshops, and wants to expand the program in the future.
Dr. Megan Burian, gifted resource teacher, gave presentations at both of the sessions.
Dr. Burian said many students had come to her to ask about job applications and recommendations, which inspired her to reach out to Strickland about implementing more sessions to the job fair.
“[Strickland] said she was hoping to build in additional sessions, but just needed more help,” Dr. Burian said. “I was happy to help and to offer the opportunity to volunteer to the newly formed Gifted Resource Student Board.”
The Gifted Resource Student Board is a group of students elected to help create interactive sessions for students in the gifted program.
Saanvi Makkapati, sophomore, is on the student board, and she volunteered at the event. Makkapati greeted employers and brought them to the gym to help them set up for the fair.
Makkapati said she first found out about the opportunity to volunteer at the fair from an email she received from Dr. Burian.
At the fair itself, Makkapati was greeting employers and bringing them to the gym to help them set up for the fair.
“I’m excited to meet new people and see how some people work,” Makkapati said. “I’ll be exposed to things that I haven’t been exposed to before.”
