Students from the Resilience Academy (RA) and Salt Point Center (SPC) met with local employers and organizations to learn about what career opportunities await them at the first Career Exploration Fair held in the RA gym March 26.
Industries represented included New York State Police, IBM and Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park, the latter of which was important for RA School Counselor Heather Murphy to have, as it can potentially be a BOCES community partner and it shows students that hotels offer many career opportunities. “There’s catering, there’s events, there’s people that work in offices, they have their own HVAC people, some of them have activities,” Murphy explained. “It’s such a broad area, and it can touch on so many careers that our young people are interested in.”
Murphy, who organized the fair with SPC Guidance Counselor Samantha Esposito, noted that while her students’ home districts hold career fairs, they cannot attend them easily, so having one on campus was beneficial. SPC students were invited to be exposed to a high school environment, while also working on their own transition planning, something Murphy said is never too early to think about.
“I really wanted them to have the opportunity to talk with people in different career paths so they can think about their transition planning post-high school,” Murphy said of the students. “Somebody may come into the class about being a police officer or a fireman, even when you’re younger, so when you’re older, you start thinking about what you may want to do.”
Murphy and Principal Kiesha Tillman decided it was beneficial for students to have questions for employers to help break the ice. They were also given an incentive to talk to at least eight employers and jot down one task they do daily, if they wear a uniform, and why they chose their field. Students who spoke to 14 employers received a star for their efforts, with Murphy finding that the incentive engaged them.
“Once students got in the groove, the incentive was there, but it kind of took the back burner because they were really finding out about things they were really excited about,” Murphy said. “The conversations they had with me about some of the things they didn’t even know existed were very exciting.”
RA Senior Nia Allen aspires to be a veterinarian, so getting to talk with a representative from the Trevor Zoo was helpful. “I think it’s a wonderful idea that they’re doing this and I hope they do it more,” Allen said.
Even though SPC eighth grader Kevin Rodriguez has time before deciding on a career, he said the fair was helpful in deciding on a career. He is interested in both the medical and firefighting fields. “In the future, I’ll have the memories from it and I’ll be able to get a job a little easier,” Rodriguez said.
Lauren Hollick, Green Jobs Manager for Communities for Local Power, spoke with students about the Empower Kingston Trades program which hires and pays individuals interested in pursuing trades, while pairing them with local contractors to get hands-on experience. She appreciated the questions students asked about what it is like to work in the trades and noted how they hire people of all abilities.
“As an educator myself, I help the contractors figure out how to accommodate everyone’s different abilities,” Hollick said. “The students were very interested in the trades and what they offer.”
