Students make wires spin, drive tractors, fly planes at Inspire career exploration

Loud banging might not be the typical first impression at a traditional career day event for high school students.

But in the case of Junior Achievement Inspire, held for the second year at the Wayne County Fairgrounds Event Center, the reverberating sound of a keiser sled force machine for training firefighters and EMTs was one of multiple simulations establishing the environment for a different kind of career day.

Hands-on experiences distinguished the Feb. 15 event from the standard distribution of pamphlets, brochures and employment applications associated with career days.

Information was plentiful, but took a back seat to active learning.

"This is not a job fair," emphasized Lori McCleese, president of Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio. "It's a career exploration experience."

Set up throughout the Event Center in eight career clusters, each booth offered an interactive experience, McCleese said.

Students from about a dozen school districts, including Wayne County Schools Career Center, Kingsway Christian, Dalton, Norwayne, Loudonville, Waynedale, Orrville, Smithville, Rittman and Chippewa, attended.

Bringing careers options outside of the booth

The concept of a different kind of career fair is "coming out from behind the booth ... building relationships ... engaging with students in a low-pressure environment," rather than recruiting, said Thomas Guidetti, tool and die apprentice instructor at Schaeffler Academy in Wooster.

At his booth, students worked on putting together "a little electric motor," he said, with the objective of "making wires spin around a battery."

Along with hands-on activities, virtual reality technology was a big draw at this year's Inspire event.

"(It) can actually explain different careers," McCleese said.

Kimesha Flonnoy, Junior Achievement program manager, pointed to a participant "doing general construction, fixing an electric line under ground."

Variety of virtual reality programs

Students could check out careers through a variety of virtual reality programs, including healthcare, hospitality, architecture, construction and manufacturing, Flonnoy said, using a headset and two hand controllers to manipulate the environment.

Then, depending upon their areas of  interest, they could talk to people representing those occupations.

The technology used at the Event Center was a big investment, said Katie Snyder, a Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio board member.

The equipment, having already been rolled out in classrooms by Junior Achievement over the past two years, has garnered "a lot of great feedback," said Snyder, who was volunteering at Inspire from Rea and Associates in Wooster.

Among the other experiences was intubating a virtual patient using one of the programs, McCleese said.

For Madalyn Coblentz, a Dalton High School junior, a simulation offered by GROWMARK gave her the opportunity to drive a tractor across a field.

Although she plans a career in child psychology and therapy, "I just did it for fun," she said.

Engaging in agricultural opportunities, said Kirby Wagner, a GROWMARK employee, gave students a real-life experience, which in this case was  moving a sprayer from Point A to Point B while practicing "driving down the road in a vehicle larger than a car."

Hammering a beam, testing strength

The keiser sled exercise put on by the Ashland Fire Department tested students' strength in hammering a beam along a trough to replicate making a forced entry while fighting a fire.

Students also tried an experiment with Jaws of Life, attempting to move a grape without crushing it.

"It takes finesse," said firefighter Tyler O'Neal, with the ability "to move very precisely."

Accompanying the noise of the keiser exercise was the cheering of fellow classmates as each one tried to beat the record for getting it from one end of the track to the other.

Another muscle testing activity was pounding actual concrete in two separate slabs to demonstrate the difference in durability between steel rebarb and fiber-reinforced concrete.

The military also was represented at Inspire.

Flight simulation was 'kind of realistic'

Preston Kreakie, a Norwayne High School junior, is planning to join the Army, but took the opportunity to check out the Air Force flight simulation video.

"It was kind of realistic," Kreakie said. "It shows how hard it is to fly a plane" and at the same time hit a target.

Becoming an Army Ranger, his goal, also is a challenge, but he wants to prove he can do it.

In the health and human services cluster, personnel from Aultman Hospital in Canton shared visual altering glasses to give students a glimpse of what it's like to have an impairment. They also could stimulate movement with arthritis using special gloves and evaluate vital signs.

A total of 850 students enjoyed the day's activities in two-hour shifts, up from 275 students last year, McCleese said.

While introducing students to the vast array of opportunities available to them, companies were of course also seeking future employees.

Looking for recruits, new ways to find people

"We're looking for recruits, just like anybody else," said Ashland Fire Department Capt. Chad Buzzard, adding, "We're constantly looking for new ways to find people."

Schaeffler, one of the main sponsors of the event, was one of the companies promoting its apprenticeship and internship programs.

State Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-District 77, took a turn trying out practice intubation equipment with the fire department.

He commended Junior Achievement for reaching out "to make sure students are able to experience all the different career opportunities and directions" available to them when they graduate.

Joshua Shields, a Junior Achievement partner from FirstEnergy, a major sponsor of the event, said company personnel attending "love what they're doing and look forward to telling students about job opportunities," a lot of them available right out of high school, such as line worker or customer service.

Students going on to college can take advantage of internships, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Junior Achievement Inspire lets students try out career options