Pierce Career Fair is Held
by Kaelee Stuchlik
March 23, 2008
The biennial Pierce High School Career Fair was once again a successful and educational night for Pierce High students as well as their parents. From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, March 17, Pierce High School used eight rooms and the gym to provide adequate room for the career fair. The evening provided opportunities for students to receive background information on various jobs, such as what skills are needed and what a typical day is like on the job.
Mr. Randy Vlasin, a representative from FutureForce Nebraska, started the fair by informing students and parents that we live in a global economy, and there will be constant competition on a global scale as our world continues to advance technically. He went on to discuss the six career clusters that would be represented throughout the night, which were Environmental and Agricultural Systems; Communication and Information Systems; Industrial, Manufacturing and Engineering Systems; Health Sciences; Human Services and Resources; and Business, Marketing, and Management.
The 2008 Pierce High Career Fair had a total of forty panel members, including people who work in auto body shops, work in hospitals, write and edit, work outside on a daily basis, and many more occupations. Each of the six career clusters had one room in which four to six panel members from that field were present. However, both Industrial, Manufacturing, and Engineering Systems and Health Sciences had two rooms. The fair provided twice as many panel members for these two career clusters because jobs in these particular fields are currently the highest in demand, and demand is expected to be just as high in future decades.
Students and parents were able to attend two sessions after the main one, each session lasting about thirty minutes.
At the conclusion of the second session, students and parents joined in the commons to see who had won the drawing for the $100 scholarship and the $200 scholarship. Freshman Colby Geiger won the $100 scholarship, and senior Derek Oestreich won the $200 scholarship. When these students enter college, Pierce High will forward the scholarship to the college they attend. Counselors drew names for a large selection of door prizes, including pens and workout bags.
Pierce High’s guidance counselors, Mrs. Mary Birch and Mrs. Chris Baldwin, held a successful career fair with assistance from the Pierce High National Honor Society members. Mrs. Baldwin was very pleased with the number of students who gained knowledge from the career fair. She said, “We had a good variety of quality people. Several students told me that they learned a lot and that it triggered a lot of students to consider careers that they had not thought of before.”
The $200 scholarship winner, Derek Oestreich, said “The money that I won will help me pay for college.”
