West Muskingum Middle School holds career fair

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Fifth grade students at West Muskingum Middle School are already looking ahead to their futures.

The fifth graders attended a career fair at their school this morning. The career fair is a joint effort between West Muskingum and Robin McQuaid from the Mid-East Career and Technology Center. West Muskingum Middle School starts talking to their students about possible career paths at a young age.

“They start it in third grade being exposed to the vocational school and some of the things that they offer. And then fourth grade they were able to take a trip and go out and visit the campus; see what the campus has to offer,” said Natina Howe a 5th grade teacher. “And then this year the vocational school has been kind enough to partner with us, bring some of the current students that are close to West or have ties to West and come out here and talk to the kids.”

The students moved from station to station learning about careers in law enforcement, the arts, public health, and more. The goal is to prepare the students to enter high school with an idea of the options available to them.

“The earlier students are exposed to things that are out there, the better. A lot of students and kiddos nowadays aren’t exposed to lots of different opportunities,” said Howe. “At West, just being a close knit community, we really feel like we can take some opportunities to get these kids some experiences that they might not have otherwise.”

Howe said students also need to know that’s okay to follow their dreams and pursue nontraditional occupations.

“Just let them know that there are different things that they can do and they don’t have to be put inside of a certain mold,” Howe shared. “They are able to just go with what they like and know that those jobs are important and help our community be successful. So no matter what they pick they’re still going to be giving back to our community.”

Mid-East Career Center couldn’t make it to the fair today due to the two hour delay, but they will be at the school tomorrow morning to continue the fair with the fifth graders.