Expo gives teachers tools to help younger students with career planning

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- Middle school educators from across the state gathered Tuesday to learn ways they can teach their students early about different career paths.

Many school districts start talking to students about career paths once they are in high school, but the educators who attended the Middle School Career Awareness Expo are hoping to expose students early, showing them how many options are out there.

Organizers of the expo in Delaware are wanting educators to understand the importance of a career to students.

“All the research is saying if you expose younger students to different models of careers, then, as they get older, they are more open and they may look at a wider variety of careers,” Maggie Hess, the executive director of the Ohio Association of Career Technical Superintendents, said.

Many young students may not realize just how many career options there are in the world.

Melissa Mlakar came to the expo from Painesville, Ohio, about two hours away from Delaware. She is in charge of the curriculum at Riverside Local Schools.

“I always say I want to give kids the opportunity or the exposure to careers before they’re stuck in a job they hate or paying $30,000 a year to realize that they hate the job that they’ve picked or the career they’ve picked,” Mlakar said.

Mlakar is looking forward to implementing some of the things she learned Tuesday into her district’s curriculum.

Organizers of the event are giving educators resources and actual lesson plans that they can bring back to their school district because they know today’s middle school students are the future.

“Ohio is growing, and this is a way that we can help make sure that the companies in our communities have individuals who are ready to be employed in all these new occupations that are coming to Ohio,” Hess said.

Hess and other organizers of the expo hope that the educators can walk into the next school year with fresh ideas about early career exposure.