SLPS Career Fair Has “Jump Start” Futures for 25 Years (Posted on February 27, 2008)

St. Louis—This year, the St. Louis Metropolitan Area Career Awareness Fair celebrates 25 years of inspiring the vocational choices of students throughout the region. On March 4 and 5, approximately 7,500 city and county public eighth graders will participate in the two-day event sponsored by the Career and Technical Education Division of the St. Louis Public Schools. The Career Awareness Fair takes place at the America’s Center, Halls 1 and 2, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. This year’s theme is “Investing in a World Class Workforce.”

With over 800 business role models representing 125 companies, the Career Awareness Fair is the largest eighth grade career fair in the country. Over the past 25 years, 185,000 students have had the opportunity to interact with and learn from thousands of businesses and tradespersons. The fair has been modeled in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Memphis and even Paris, France.

The fair provides eighth graders with the chance to investigate a variety of careers and the skills, educational preparation and personal qualities needed to succeed in them. The comprehensive educational experience also encourages students to develop strategies for applying academic skills to work-world situations and understanding the need to graduate high school.
Prior to the event, students complete an interest inventory and determine which booths and role models they will visit and interview. At the fair, role models dress for work and bring the tools and equipment necessary to demonstrate their jobs. Role models are encouraged to include interactive activities that allow students to see the relationship of school skills to career skills. Afterwards, students complete post-fair activities related to the Show-Me Standards and evaluate what they have learned about themselves as a result of their participation.

A sample of last year’s activities included:

• hospital x-ray technologists exhibiting their equipment and its uses
• a hair stylist demonstrating the chemical reactions caused by different products
• firefighters showing the functions of their fire engine’s equipment
• archaeologists explaining how to use field equipment
• radio personalities hosting “live-on-the-air” broadcasts
• conservationists showing how animals are tracked
• engineers demonstrating virtual reality equipment

This year’s role models will represent such companies as: Ameren, Anheuser-Busch, Inc, AT&T, BJC Healthcare, Edward Jones, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Federal Aviation Administration, FBI, IBM, Laclede Gas, MasterCard International, METRO, Monsanto, National Weather Service, Procter & Gamble, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, St. Louis Baseball Cardinals and Walgreens.
Rebecca L. Rodgers, Public Relations Manager for the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, attended the fair when she was an eighth grader. She believes that the opportunity gave her a “jump start” on choosing a career. She said, “Attending the Career Fair was my transition from childhood to adulthood. No, I did not know what I wanted to be at the end of the day, but I had a stronger understanding of what I needed to do in order to begin that journey.”
Superintendent Diana Bourisaw will open the fair on Tuesday, March 4. Eighteen companies will be honored for their 25-year participation. These companies will receive a commemorative poster designed by Metro High School student, Saliha Moore, and FUSE Advertising.