Barry Career Expo helps ninth graders go pro
Thu, Nov 30, 2017
Marjorie Haas from Barry Career Access Network leads smiling ninth graders ready to explore future career opportunities. Christian Yonkers and Joan Van Houten
Staff Writers
The first annual Barry Career Expo happened at Maple Valley Church Tuesday. Ninth grade students from Hastings, Delton Kellogg, Thornapple Kellogg and Maple Valley high schools boarded buses to attend the event and explore different career paths and start laying the foundation for employment after graduation.
The Barry Chamber of Commerce, Barry Intermediate School District, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute and Barry Career Access Network joined forces to bring the expo to Barry County, and the business community responded with resounding support for early career preparation.
BCAN depends on grassroots efforts driven by community stakeholders to accomplish its mission of getting graduates into the professional workforce.
“We’re trying to engage kids to figure out which careers are actually out there,” said Marjorie Haas with BCAN.
A lot of kids are willing to work, but don’t know where to start, she said. Many students are not aware of the myriad employment opportunities before them and may resign themselves to low-paying, low-skilled jobs.
According to the state, 100,000 jobs go unfilled across Michigan every year. Haas and others hope graduates in the 2017 to 2025 cohort are equipped to fill those vacancies. The goal led to the establishment of BCAN, which aspires to see 60 percent of Barry County residents with post-high school certificates or degrees by 2025. Haas said she was pleased with the career exposure students received Tuesday.
Representatives from 30 area businesses provided students with information on career openings, job descriptions and training. Students were surprised to learn that landing well-paying professional careers isn’t as hard as they thought.
Flexfab, for example, covers college tuition and training expenses for its workers looking to advance their careers. Many companies provide similar benefits, removing college debt from the list of things keeping young men and women from obtaining a professional job.
During a college internship, Dave Heise, manning the Flexfab booth, got a job offer from Flexfab before graduation. The company paid for his tuition, eliminating the sobering student debt that keeps many students from pursuing professional careers. He enjoyed talking to the students making their rounds through the expo.
“They’ve been asking a lot of really good questions, especially what kind of classes they need,” Heise said.
Sara Whisler, human resources manager at Flexfab, said there are labor shortages for nearly all manufacturing facilities. Submitting resumes and filling out applications are at least three years away, she said, but the event was more about showing careers and products and what jobs are available in each field.
“For us, we’re trying to get the word out that we’re going to be looking for employees in a couple years, so keep us in mind for after graduation. Just that alone is huge,” Whisler said.
Operating Engineers 324 provides paid apprenticeship programs. Students who don’t see college in their future may apply for the union’s three-year training program, which would prepare them for lucrative careers in equipment operating.
“You can take a kid that’s never been in anything before, put him in our apprenticeship, and by the time he’s done, he’ll be a top-notch journeyman,” said Brad Jones.
Jones, a Middleville resident, has been in the industry since his 20s. He now represents equipment operators through EO324.
Different certifications for various equipment and procedures are available virtually free to the student. Apprenticeships are one of the best platforms into a lucrative career in construction and building trades, giving students on-the-job paid training for anything from crane operation to welding.
“We offer all of that, and for pennies on the dollar,” Jones said.
A lot of people don’t want to work in what they perceive as tough trades jobs, Jones said. But what many don’t know are the bountiful rewards a professional career provides. He said he thinks the expo will continue to grow. Glancing around the dozens of booths set up in the gymnasium suggested area businesses believe in promoting professional trades.
Business representatives weren’t pitching for new recruits. Their mission for the day was introducing students to the industries they represented and helping students learn what training they’ll need to attain their dreams. Colleges that were present also put their enrollment agendas aside, focusing instead on helping students figure out which skills they’ll need to enter a career of their choice without the agenda of enrollment.
J-Ad Graphics experienced a growing excitement in students as they learned about the talent and skills needed behind the scenes and how print publications continue to be an influence in communities and lives. Several students visiting the booths recognized people in photos stories printed in the many area newspapers published by J-Ad Graphics. Some even found themselves in photos.
Reporting city news, the ability to share the stories of amazing people in the community, computer graphics, graphic design, website creation and design, computer programing, photography and social media marketing are all skills and talents in careers supported by the printing industry. Students asked relevant questions, such as what coursework should be pursued, what work hours were put in by reporters, flexibility of the positions, and what the papers considered a story.
“I was very impressed with what I saw of the students,” CEO Fred Jacobs said. “They were well mannered, showed interest and asked some really great questions. It reassures me that these kids are well equipped to meet the challenges of the future.”
The students were interested in the event, overall, and conducted themselves well.
“Education is about more than sitting in the classroom. It is also about getting them out of confining rooms and out into the community to experience things and see things for themselves,” he said. “It’s about communicating, asking questions and being exposed to different groups and different surroundings. Along with so many businesses eager to participate, taking the kids out of the box is another area of the expo that I saw as a tremendous success. I would participate again in a heartbeat.”
The event was a success considering the months of planning it took to execute. Gathering and coordinating hundreds of high school students and business representatives under one roof is no small feat.
“The first time you do something, you’ll always have hiccups,” said Michelle Skedgell, who sits on the BCAN board.
The hiccups were negligible. Thirty businesses representing six career paths were able to connect with more than 600 area students. Compliments and positive feedback had more air time than naysaying.
“As a parent, I wish my kids would have had this,” Skedgell said.
She was astounded by the community’s support. Barry County businesses are providing the future work force the best possible shot at a successful career by their desire to reach out to students today, she said.
“You really couldn’t ask for more,” said Skedgell.
http://hastingsbanner.com/barry-career-expo-helps-ninth-graders-go-pro-p11290-84.htm