Mercer County has eighth career fair

Staff report

HERMITAGE, PA.

More than 1,000 students from 10 area junior high and middle schools attended the recent Sixth Mercer County Eighth-Grade Career Fair – including Farrell, Keystone, Sharon, Sharpsville, Hickory, Kennedy Catholic, West Middlesex, Jamestown, Commodore Perry and Reynolds.

The career fair was co-sponsored by Laurel Technical Institute and the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee.

The career fair, part of an initiative by LTI and the Shenango Valley Chamber to grow career awareness and promote education and training after high school among area youths, highlighted 11 “career clusters,” and engaged 79 area professionals to represent each cluster.

The clusters included agriculture, building trades, business, design/communications/art, education, health, hospitality, the armed forces, science and technology, social sciences and transportation. Representatives from these clusters spoke with students about the education and skills required to work in each field, positives and negatives about their careers, and why they chose their professions. They also answered students’ questions.

Area professionals view the career fair as a way to promote the goals of their field while helping youths find a career path. This year, LTI included a mini-career assessment that categorized into four breakout sessions including; Health Care, STEM, Criminal Justice and Success in the Workplace. Each breakout session included a hands-on demonstration to attract and introduce students to a wide range of career opportunities.

Doug Decker, Debbie Anderson and Neina Morocco, LTI’s high-school representative, with cooperation from the education committee and members of the chamber, coordinated the event.

Preparations included finding representatives for different professions, developing their displays, visiting schools to talk with students about careers, scheduling schools on the day of the event and finding a venue.