By JOE VINDUSKA
BCC
Barton Community College kicked off Career and Technical Education Month by hosting the 11th Annual Career Fair on campus Friday.
A total of 448 students in grades 8-12 attended the event, which highlighted Barton’s career and technical education programs through hands-on activities, classroom experiences, and interaction with faculty, staff, and community partners. The event offered students an engaging look at career pathways and training opportunities available through Barton.
Barton Director of Early College Opportunities Karly Little said hosting a Career Fair for students in grades 8–12 has been a key part of Barton’s CTE Month celebration for more than a decade. Since the first event in 2016, when approximately 200 students registered, the Career Fair has grown significantly.
“Each year, we include more programs, more activities, and more volunteers,” she said. “We have experimented yearly to meet any challenges or changes we see in order to help the event keep evolving. It’s all about helping students explore careers that they may not know about in some way, shape, or form, or introduce them to something new.”
February is recognized nationally as Career and Technical Education Month, and Barton’s Workforce Training and Community Education Division celebrates throughout the month by recognizing students, team members, and advisory board partners who support career technical programs. Career and technical education at Barton focuses on preparing youth and adults with the skills and training needed for today’s workforce.
Volunteers from across campus and area communities supported the event by leading student groups and assisting throughout the day in various ways.
Little said the Career Fair allows students to explore opportunities they never even dreamed of before.
“Sometimes people see employees, in various industries, without thinking about how they arrived there, or how just one instance can set someone on a path to a rewarding occupation,” she said. “My hope is that this event opens students’ eyes, or maybe even their parents’ eyes as well, to career paths they may never have considered. It excites me to think that somewhere on campus that day, a student might pick up a hammer for the first time, count and measure medications they’d never imagined working with, or feel the thrill of climbing into an ambulance simulator and discover the spark that lights up their future.”
Instructional programs were central to the Career Fair, welcoming students into classrooms and labs for interactive learning experiences. Faculty and program leaders collaborated with industry partners to engage students across a wide range of academic and technical fields.
Students were able to explore agriculture and commercial transportation; construction and energy trades; healthcare and allied health; computer science, STEM, and aviation; public service and emergency response; education and the arts; and business and communications.
To learn more or become a part of next year’s Career Fair, reach out to Little at littlek@bartonccc.edu or (620) 792-9294.