MOUNT GILEAD – More than 350 Morrow County 9th graders attended the second annual MoCo Career Expo on Oct. 27 at the Morrow County Fairgrounds and Gilead Christian School/Gilead Friends Church.
Students from all Morrow County school districts including Cardington Lincoln Local, Highland, Mount Gilead and Northmor attended.
The MoCo Career Expo is a free, hands-on career exploration event connecting students with opportunities to experience careers in the In-Demand fields of Healthcare, Agriculture, Skilled Trades, Technology and Public Service.
The goals of the career expo are to provide 9th graders with the opportunity to learn about careers they did not know about previously, increase awareness about jobs available in Morrow County, encourage students to think about the pathways required to achieve their career goals and strengthen the business-education partnership in Morrow County.
Students were able to choose one career track out of five and experienced seven different hands-on activities that they might do if they had a career within that field.
By actually experiencing an activity within a career field rather than just hearing a presentation, youth are better able to decide whether this career may or may not be a good fit for them in the future.
For example, students who chose the Skilled Trades careers track visited the Cardington Yutaka Technologies, Inc. station where they used a CMM arm to measure parts against CAD drawings and used technology to reverse-engineer parts.
At the OSU Department of Food Science and Technology, students learned about how food scientists make new and delicious food while keeping it safe and wholesome.
Students also learned about Food Science careers and how professionals ensure quality standards are maintained during food production.
The Career Expo was spearheaded by the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center Business Advisory Council Morrow County Action Team.
The Morrow County Action Team is comprised of more than fifteen community partners led by Amy Wood, Director of Special Projects at MOESC, Angela Powell, Development Coordinator for the Morrow County Commissioners and Amanda Staley, Youth Educator at Morrow County OSU Extension.
In total, the event had over 50 organizations involved in a variety of ways including volunteering, presenting and sponsoring.
The presenter/volunteer lunch was sponsored by Morrow County Cattlemen’s Association, Morrow County Pork Producers and Morrow County Dairy Association.
The student lunch was sponsored by Lubrication Specialities, Inc., OH Pizza and Prime and Pizzaburg.