Texas Department of Public Safety outline the many duties and responsibilities of those who choose that particular career path.
The 903 Artisans show that one can turn what they may think of as a hobby into a lifelong, lucrative choice in career.
Students learn about architectural and interior design as a career choice.
Atlanta ISD shows there’s always room in the technical field for more employees
Genesis PrimeCare goes over the rewarding benefits of a career in health care and helping others.
Hughes Springs High School Mustangs line up to enter the career fair where scores of demo tables are set up to share career opportunities in a variety of fields.
Ward Timber, LTD shows that a career with them means you’re not just an employee— you’re family.
United States Military recruitment officers show off some of the cool tanker equipment out front while greeting attendees at the doors of the Family Life Center where last weeks career fair was held.
Local ladies explain the labor of love that goes into their social work and that it is very much a calling.
More than 500 attend first Cass County Career Fair
More than 75 businesses and 500 students attended the first Cass County Career Fair held Wednesday, Feb. 8., which was a collaborative effort among surrounding Cass County school districts.
“It exploded beyond my wildest dreams,” said Stacy Anthony, Atlanta Independent School District’s College, Career and Military Readiness Director. “All the area school counselors collaborating and utilizing our individual strengths made this event successful.”
Atlanta, Avinger, Bloomburg, Hughes Springs, McLeod and Queen City school districts participated in planning the event.
“We each love our small towns and want our students to see successful business opportunities already in place,” Anthony said. “We also want our students to dream big about businesses they can bring back home.”
Students were instructed to bring resumes and had question stems on the back of their floor map to help facilitate conversations with vendors.
“I actually collected a few resumes that I will keep on file for the next position that I have available,” said Keri Richardson, owner of Heritage Insurance in Atlanta. “I think the main benefit as a business owner and a community member is the opportunity to be a tangible example to these young students of how people earn a living in our town. I enjoyed having conversations with the students– hearing about their future plans, encouraging them, and giving them advice that I believed would help them maximize their success in the future.”
Because of the event’s success, they plan to host it every two years.
“This was my first career event to plan, but certainly not my last,” Anthony said. “We plan to do this every two years for our juniors and seniors. I’m already planning a college fair next fall under the same two-year format. The students of Cass County will then attend both career and college fairs either their junior or senior year.”
Anthony is the new CCMR (College, Career, Military, Readiness) director for AISD. “Due to the increasing expectations from the state, Atlanta ISD thought it important to create a position that works with students individually to facilitate their post-secondary plans.” Anthony said it all started when “this past fall semester, I happened to sit next to Jennifer Stewart (Linden counselor) at a Region 8 event. She was working on a career fair for Linden ISD and lamenting how difficult it was to get businesses to attend a fair for a small class of seniors. So, that got me thinking of our other smaller schools in Cass County: McLeod, Bloomburg, Avinger, Hughes Springs, and Queen City.
“I thought a common concern should unite schoolsright? Plus, we each love our small towns and want our students to see successful business opportunities already in place and dream big about businesses they can bring back home. We are stronger together! So, I emailed all the counselors from our district, and they wholeheartedly agreed. We started meeting once a month. We developed a spreadsheet and worked together to gather vendors - and now we had 600 students to whet vendors’ appetites! It just exploded beyond my wildest dreams! This was my first career event, but certainly not my last. We plan on doing the event every 2 years for our juniors and seniors.
“I’m already planning on a college fair next fall under the same two-year format,” said Anthony. “The students of Cass County will then attend both career and college fairs in either their junior or senior year. All counselors collaborating and utilizing our individual strengths truly made this event successful!”
Anthony says she is thankful for Atlanta ISD and the people who helped put it together. “I am so very thankful that Atlanta ISD is forward-thinking. AISD saw the need for a CCMR director and did not hesitate to put a plan into action.
“I loved being in the classroom for 17 years. I’ve always “sprinkled” college and career readiness into my curriculum; however, I will be forever grateful that I have been given the opportunity to throw myself wholeheartedly into this area.”
This is the list of the event staff that met monthly and others who helped make this event a success.
Event Staff that met monthly: Lori Cullins- Atlanta Director of Instructional Programs Karen Sams- HS 11/12th Counselor Whitney Adams- HS 9/10th Counselor Jennifer Stewart- Linden Counselor Jana Scharnberg- Hughes Springs Counselor Kathy O’Kelley- McLeod Counselor Kendra Bates- Queen City Counselor Miranda Johnson- Executive Director at Atlanta City Development Corporation/Regional Career Pathways Network Special Thanks: First Baptist Church staff Atlanta Economic Development Atlanta City Development City of Hughes Springs/EDC City of Linden/EDC Queen City Economic Development Corp.