Yuba Gardens students explore career paths
Apr. 5—Students at Yuba Gardens Intermediate School in Olivehurst met with workers from nearly 20 different fields for the school's annual career day on Wednesday.
Middle school students were able to connect with people from a diverse set of fields from firefighters and real estate agents to tattoo artists and barbers. Wednesday marked the school's first career fair event since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Principal Jim Hays said that this event has served as a way to connect students to different college and career avenues while exposing them to jobs they may not have thought were available. The Yuba Gardens academic counseling department works to organize the career fair each year to show students how their current educational journey can impact their future careers.
"I believe it's critical to bring relevancy to their education. It helps us answer those questions students have. Why do I need this class? Why do I need good grades? Bringing different career representatives helps them see why these things are important and how they can be a good, contributing member of society," Hays said.
School counselor Yazmin Munoz said that Yuba Gardens Intermediate partnered with the Yuba County Office of Education to recruit a variety of career representatives. She also worked with fellow school counselor Elizabeth Perez who supplied separate contacts. Yuba Gardens Intermediate students were also asked what careers they would like to see represented in the fair.
For this year's career fair, Munoz said that the school wanted to focus on a diverse set of careers that pertain to Career Technical Education pathways that students encounter in high school.
"I want to inspire these kids. A lot of them don't know what they want to do, and that's OK," Munoz said.
Career day is also a product of the school's goal to encourage college and career readiness among students. Munoz said that in preparation for the event, students were asked to examine their positive traits and connect them to jobs that could highlight those qualities.
"We wanted them to look at their strengths and try to match up with careers that exemplify those strengths. I hope that kids stay inspired to pursue different career paths," she said.
After students took part in the event, the career fair opened to other members of the community to learn more about career opportunities available to them.
"We wanted to make it a true community event," Hays said. "We wanted to support people, support our kids and give back to the community."
