WG High School career fair helps students prepare for the future
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Future Shock
Hundreds of Willow Glen High School students considered different career options during the school's first job fair April 16
By Kate Carter
Photographs by Jeff Kearns
It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. Last week, the village came to Willow Glen High School.
The school's gym, decked out in red and gold, was rimmed with tables and adult volunteers the morning of April 16 at the school's first career fair in recent memory. Nurses, police officers, a Willow Glen actor, engineers, a studio photographer, members of the Nike Olympic track training team, an accountant and a culinary school representative were among the more than 40 professionals who turned up to tout their various careers and, in some cases, sign students up for more information.
The school staff and supporters who put on the event said it was successful beyond their most optimistic expectations--so much so that they are considering holding bigger fairs more often. Reactions from students were more mixed, with some saying their careers of choice weren't adequately represented, that they already knew what they wanted to do when they grew up or that they had too much time to mill about the gym during the required period. For most adult participants, the chance to touch the lives of young people made the five hours worth it.
The fair is just one more tool the school is using to help students think about and become prepared for their future.
"The goal that we all had was to maybe [interest] some kid [in a possible career] and let them know what they need to do in high school to prepare for that career," said Karen Clinton, the event's lead coordinator.
"You have to bring the resources and the opportunities to them, and this is the perfect place to do it," added Barbara Black, the other event coordinator.
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
College Bound: Students gather around San Jose Police investigator Caren Hare.
Preparing for college
During the past few years, Willow Glen High School has been trying to stimulate student interest in college, but it struggles with limited resources and a student body that doesn't always consider college an option. It is also dealing with the San Jose Unified School District's new high school graduation requirements, which are now the same as the college-entrance requirements for University of California or California State colleges or universities. This spring's graduating class is the first that is being held to these higher standards, and the district, teachers, administrators and students have been working overtime with additional summer, after-school and other support programs to prepare. District spokesman Bill Erlendson said that those efforts are paying off.
"Our data shows little or no dip in students graduating," he said.
Erlendson says events like Willow Glen High's career fair help students understand the relationship between accomplishing more in school and being capable of doing the jobs they want, especially for those who may not have such examples in their daily lives.
The idea for the career fair came out of a vision meeting of Willow Glen High and Middle schools' staffs and supporters last spring. The two schools are working together to help every student at least consider the option of going to college and be prepared to take advantage of that option.
Clinton, a member of the Willow Glen High School and Middle School Foundation board's allocations committee, volunteered to spearhead the career fair and solicited help from Black, another committee member. The foundation was founded about 11/2 years ago to raise money to benefit the school's academic programs, and this year the $250,000 it hopes to raise is earmarked for hiring two full-time college and career counselors, developing mentoring and tutoring programs and extending hours at the Media Center. Putting on a career fair fit right into those plans, Clinton said.
"There's been a lot of concentration on improving the career center," she said. "The career fair was part of tying that all together."
She and Black started their planning for the event by asking the high school's students to respond to a survey of the professions in which they were most interested. Members of the Associated Student Body, led by Activities Vice Principal Chuck Henderson, then compiled the survey results. Henderson said the more popular professions were ones related to the legal field, the military, and the restaurant industry.
"I think it's neat, the amount of careers they are all interested in," he said, adding that it reflects the diversity of the school's student body.
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Post H.S. Options: California Culinary Academy recruiter Cristina Wray tells David Sabala about getting into the job market for chefs.
Clinton and Black then sent a letter to parents, explaining their need for professionals in these and other fields to participate in the career fair. They also worked with the school's career center staff and other teachers and administrators to identify people in different careers.
"Everybody has a contact with somebody," Henderson said.
"We tried to [represent] a good mix [of professions] that require a bachelor's degree," Willow Glen High School Principal Pat Day said.
Black and Clinton said they made the mistake of starting late on the project and were unable to locate representatives of such fields as pediatrics, psychology and veterinary medicine. In addition, they learned that it pays to put in early requests to the FBI, the Sharks professional hockey team and the San Jose Giants minor league baseball team--representatives from those organizations were all booked and were unable to attend.
According to Clinton, they are more prepared for next year's career fair, as they have at least preliminary information for many of the professions, which can lead to more contacts.
"We have all this stuff now on our computer," she said. "Making contacts is so important--at least you get a name and number."
She and Black also learned from coordinators of Leland High School's well-known biannual career day, and used some of their already perfected techniques and ideas.
Hernandez had his newly elected Associated Student Body officers work with the veteran student leaders to set up and chaperone the event.
"It served as a training project for us," he said. "It's teaching them some leadership skills."
We Want You: U.S. Marine Sgt. Bert Lowery says the Corps isn't easy, but it's worth it.
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Career interests
The professionals started arriving at about 7 a.m. on April 16, quashing Clinton's fears that no one would show up. By 7:30, the room was bustling with eager adults looking forward to meeting future teachers, mechanics and marketing experts.
Then the freshman class arrived. Each Willow Glen High student was required to attend the fair with his or her class during a full 55-minute period of the day. As they walked in, the students received copies of a two-sided form with questions and spaces for answers. Each student had to visit two tables and "interview" the professionals there, and then record their answers to questions such as "How did you become interested in this career?", "What kind of education did you need for this career?", and "How much growth does this career offer and money does it pay?"
Most of the volunteers noticed that the freshman stuck pretty close to their scripts and diligently took down the responses word for word, while older students tended to ad-lib a bit. And while many students participated in the fair just enough to accomplish the required task, others asked additional questions that suggested a deeper interest in a field.
Throughout the fair, one of the most popular tables was that of the U.S. Armed Forces, with representatives from the Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy. A group of many boys and some girls hovered around the area, chatting with the uniformed adults and filling out forms requesting more information.
Day noted the phenomenon and said that while those careers may be slightly more popular since Sept. 11, many Willow Glen High graduates move in that direction anyway.
"We have a group of kids looking for structure and looking for opportunity," he said. "The military can provide that."
At the San Jose Fire Department's table, which had a television video about firefighter heroism, a number of interested youths talked to the firefighters in attendance. Among the adult representatives was San Jose Fire Department Explorer Nathan Leal, a member of Willow Glen High School's class of 2001, who has been involved in the department's preliminary program for four years and is training to be a paramedic.
"It's interesting," he said of the event. "We never had a career day in my high school career."
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Law Enforcement Careers: San Jose Police Officer Ernie Brown tells Willow Glen High School Vice Principal Chuck Hernandez and student Arwen Lange that he and his equine partner, Cal, usually work the downtown area.
Leal said the event was valuable because it helped the students, some of whom he recognized from his time at the school, realize that "life's not just a party now," and that they have to start thinking about their futures.
Quite possibly the fair's most popular spot was the modeling table, which was covered with photos of appealing men and women and surrounded by admirers and aspiring models. The model behind the table took home quite a few names and numbers of potential future models.
A variety of engineering options were represented, but most tended to be a little less swamped with curious youths.
"I have to admit, the actor is taking a lot of my business," said aerospace engineer Joe Fragola, looking wryly at his neighbor's table.
Web designer Michele Fleischecker said that her table had seen a fair number of students, a couple of whom had asked her about different software applications and programming languages. She was surprised to learn that those who visited the table had never taken a high school web design class.
Freshman Danielle Vlkovic, 14, visited the relatively unpopular journalism table (located unstrategically between the military and modeling tables). She said she was enjoying the fair but was interested in professions that were not represented--entertainment, TV broadcasting, art and psychology. Junior Elizabeth Eap, 17, echoed those sentiments, saying she wants to be a pediatrician, but that there were none at the event. She added that she was bored after about 10 minutes but acknowledged that the event was probably helpful for people who, unlike her, didn't yet know what they wanted to do.
One student, senior Daniel Ciari, 17, said he was interested in getting an internship at a newspaper.
"At least at high school we're giving them the tools to do whatever they want," Hernandez said.
Modeling Choices: The modeling table generated more than its fair share of interest.
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Career fair proves successful
Over a celebratory lunch shared with the adult volunteers, Hernandez, Day, Black and Clinton marveled over the students' apparent enthusiasm for the event, which contradicted some dire predictions from the organizers' savvy teenage children.
"I think we learned a lot this time," Clinton said. "I'm really pleased, though, with how the whole gym looked. And, for the most part, the kids were well-behaved. Many of the teachers were very impressed."
She and Black are already planning next year's career fair, and Hernandez mentioned the possibility of holding two. He recommended holding one in the fall so that seniors will get some pointers for pursuing their careers of interest before applying to college.
Adult participants filled out event evaluation forms, which Clinton said looked positive. The group will formally review that feedback at an evaluation meeting, and implement the suggestions in order to improve future fairs. They are also looking for an event sponsor--the foundation kept costs below the $1,000 it budgeted, but would like to deflect those costs in the future, Black said.
All in all, though it was a challenge getting so many adults to give up a morning in their busy schedules to help youths realize what kind of careers are out there and what it takes to be successful in them, it was worth it, participants said.
Willow Glen resident and landscape architect Terri Kane said it was worth it to her, especially when students approached her to ask questions in depth.
"It seems there were some kids who are really sincere," she said. "[For many of them,] I don't think that the light bulb is on yet in terms of what comes after high school. You just never know where the sparks are going to come from."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
