Connected Lane County inspires students, helps plant seed in finding future careers

Between tree farming, horseback riding, sports marketing, construction, coding, computer programming and more, eighth-graders who attended the Middle School Career Exploration event each found out about jobs they had never heard of before.

Nearly 500 middle school students from all over Lane County passed through Connected Lane County's three-day event this week.

Lizzie Brown, program manager for the Connected Lane County's Elevate and Navigate programs, said in total about 30 local companies and nonprofits set up booths with representatives to speak with students. Several booths had interactive exercises to catch a student's eye and get them asking questions.

"It's a really fun engaging way for youth to just better understand what's in their backyard and in their community," Brown said. "It's gone incredibly well."

Connected Lane County is a mission-driven organization striving to improve outcomes for underserved youth in Lane County. It has three main programs — Spark, Navigate and Elevate — all are focused on helping young people find success and creating early career exploration opportunities by connecting students with resources. The group serves youth from middle school to young adults.

The annual Middle School Career Exploration event, which is on its fourth year, was held at Spark on 7th in downtown Eugene. There were 10 school districts represented, many from rural areas where they have limited opportunities to witness career opportunities outside of their hometowns.

"We know that in a lot of our rural communities, there isn't a ton of industry," Brown said. "It's really important that we cultivate these experiences for them so that it's convenient for industry and for the schools to just bring their kids in for an hour and a half."

Creswell Middle School social studies teacher Kendra Anderson said every year after the exploration, the students talk about it for weeks after.

"These are a lot of jobs that they can see that they might not know about, and it's hard for us to teach about because we don't do those jobs," Anderson said. "They see the businesses that are in our Creswell area, but they don't get to see all of the different businesses that aren't in town. Then sometimes too, it's their first time to be out of school and be doing something educational, especially with COVID."

Several students were surprised to see so many different careers represented. Although it's still early for most to choose a true career, Brown explained that's important to get them thinking about their futures early.

"(It) ideally plants the seed earlier in their K-12 education about what they're interested in what they're really not interested in, so that they can make more informed decisions," Brown said. "If they're about to go into a high school with CTE programs through technical education programs, we want them to know in ninth grade that that's an interest of theirs so that they can get on track and not waste any time."

She added that throughout high school these students can then come back to participate in the Connected Lane County programs, including job shadowing, mentorships and internships. Connected Lane County has regular events that are open to the public and details can be found on its website calendar, connectedlane.org/events. For example, on Nov. 30, Spark on 7th and the Cottage Grove Community Center are hosting the monthly Wonder Wednesday, which teach youth essential life skills.

Leaving a lasting impact

One business representative at the fair realized he had a personal connection with Connected Lane County.

Emilio Ziolkowski, a 20-year-old college student who works full-time for the Eugene Emeralds, recognized Brown and made the connection that she had established his first job shadow opportunity with the Emeralds in 2019.

Ziolkowski said the brief job shadow left a lasting impact on him and the company itself. When he applied for a position before the 2022 baseball season, they recognized his name from that job shadow. Now he has been promoted to ticketing director.

"I'm pretty confident that I would not have had this opportunity, if I hadn't made the connections back then," Ziolkowski said.

He said there was a lot of competition for the job he applied for, but the workers at the Emeralds remembered his longtime interest in the company.

Ziolkowski is currently finishing up his bachelor's degree online at Western Governors University, and he plans to apply for his master's in sports marketing at the University of Oregon.

Ziolkowski, who grew up attending Pleasant Hill School District, said these initial career exploration opportunities are important for kids to help them figure out their future paths, especially for students from rural districts. Growing up outside of the metro area can be restricting careerwise, he said.

"It's important for these kids that might not see (this) in their backyard every day," Ziolkowski said. "Connected Lane County has done a really, really good job with putting emphasis on those rural schools that might not have the same opportunities and connections."

Brown was the one who personally connected Ziolkowski to the job shadow with the Ems. When he approached her with his discovery, it was a "full-circle moment" for her.

"I've had goosebumps for about two hours," Brown said. "I'm just totally overwhelmed at how even the lightest touch − when I think about the spectrum of our programs and how intensive an internship is, it makes sense to me that after an internship, a young person might go to work for that company. But to hear that even a one-time three-hour job shadow, which we do hundreds of each year, impacted a young person so much that it has changed the trajectory of his life and his career, his education. It's exactly what we're trying to do.

"It's just totally reinvigorating, and it's lit our fires, and it makes me really, really excited."

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Connected Lane County inspires students in finding future careers