Bright Spot: Elementary Career Exposure Fair, May 2024
Students walked over to visit the helicopter and its pilot.
“Chance for choice” is the mantra for the career exploration and workforce development initiatives we support. We believe in empowering students to choose how they will live, including working and serving their community, their ‘ohana, and themselves. The careers of today and tomorrow ask for more and more skills and experience than before. The workers of tomorrow ask for the opportunities to pursue what is important to them. Finding the balance point is a challenge for everyone. By gaining knowledge and experience of their options and their preferences, our youth can approach this challenge with greater confidence and a higher chance for success.
Why Elementary School Students?
People start learning about themselves and their options throughout their lives by taking in information from the world around them. That’s why we encourage everyone to take opportunities to share about their own career journeys with young people. It also helps to have conversations about the kinds of things they like to do and how it might fit into future career aspirations.
We’ve discovered there are so many careers, including many local options many people may be unfamiliar with. For a long time, our youngest students had limited direct exposure to a broad variety of career options. Career fairs to inform and hire students are usually reserved for college, high school, and middle/intermediate students. But the Career & Technical Education district resource teacher, Fern White, wanted to offer these events to younger grades. Starting earlier allows students more time to discover and reflect.
Exposure > Exploration > Experience Model
Students connect with the Fire Department.
We collaborated with Fern in the past to pilot virtual career exploration fairs for the complex area. So when she wanted to pilot an event for elementary students, we were excited to help! Rather than an exploration fair, we tried the first elementary level career exposure fair.
What do we mean by exposure versus exploration? It is based on Fern’s simple model: exposure > exploration> experience. Exposing students to options early, then allowinging them to explore the possibilities more in-depth, and finally helping them to gain meaningful experience is the best way to build “chance for choice.”
Updates to the career pathways model in recent years make early exposure even more important. With more specific, relevant, and well-connected pathways to choose from, we want to help students feel prepared when the time comes to choose a pathway and start planning for after graduation.
Our First Elementary Career Exploration Fair
While 5th and 6th graders might not be ready to dive deeply into career exploration, a career exposure fair looks much the same as a career fair for older students: lots of generous and friendly volunteers from the business, university, public service, nonprofit, and education sectors setting up booths (and vehicles for some) for students to come and learn from. Presenters shared activities, wisdom, and swag.
Apart from the information and demonstrations, the volunteers themselves are an invaluable resource because they can answer students’ questions in the moment. Getting to meet people in certain careers and industries also gives students the chance to imagine themselves in a similar role, especially when meeting someone from a similar background.
Students circulated with papers where they could write down the careers they learned about, as well as their thoughts on what they might like to explore in the future. Larger prizes donated by presenters were raffled off as rewards for students that completed their worksheets.
Mahalos
Kealakehe High’s hands-on automotive displays were big hits. Students practiced their dexterity with tools, spray painted in VR, and sat in real, revving vehicles.
Almost 400 students from the northern part of the complex area (Waikoloa, Pa‘auilo, Kohala, Honoka‘a, and Waimea) arrived and departed throughout the day.
It took dozens and dozens of volunteers, including presenters, planners, and day-of helpers. We had help from HIDOE complex area staff, nonprofit Friends of the Future, Delta Kappa Gamma, and high school student groups: Kohala High Future Farmers and student ambassadors, Honokaa DECA (business club), and Honokaa HOSA (future health professionals club).
Honoka‘a High’s HOSA (Future Health Professionals) Club shares CPR techniques with younger students.
Not only did these students do a lot of heavy lifting moving tables and chairs, they also helped by greeting and seating presenters, monitoring younger students, distributing lunches, and presenting their own career pathways. To thank them, our event sponsors provided each club with a stipend to help cover their costs to travel and compete in club activities. We were so blessed to have their help, and encourage others to give students the chance to serve.
We also want to shout out the Kealakehe High students from the school’s automotive program who came with multiple vehicles and hands-on demonstrations.
Interested in the Next Fair?
Rather than representing a specific employer, these smiling volunteers ran a table for general financial pathways.
Overall, the event received positive feedback, and – at least from our perspective – was a lot of fun! Our collaborators are planning another event in Kona for the Kealakehe and Konawaena complex public elementary schools this fall.
Organizations interested in acting as presenters should sign up for the ClimbHI Bridge Portal and keep an eye out for event announcements and invitations. Staying active in ClimbHI is the easiest way to connect with opportunities to work with local students and schools to build the workforce. Employers can indicate their preferences, from easy things like virtual classroom visits up to offering internships and other direct work-based learning experiences.
Those interested in sponsoring future events to cover costs like venue, lunches, tables and chairs, and stipends for student club helpers can contact 501(c)(3) Friends of the Future.
