8 industries, 60 exhibits and thousands of students gathered at the Century Center on Tuesday for the first-ever Junior Achievement JobSpark Career Expo.
The expo is aimed at allowing students to explore industries that could someday turn into a career.
It’s not a job fair like you’ve seen before. Students get a firsthand look at different careers such as learning how to spot counterfeit money or how to work on a roof or even learning how to process a crime scene.
“We always say, if they can’t see it, they can’t be it,” said Junior Achievement in St. Joseph County Director Kristy Bridegroom.
Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana is hosting the JobSpark Career Expo to spark interest in local 8th and 9th grade students throughout the area.
The goal is not to hire, but to inspire.
Organizers say opportunities like this are important for this age group.
“There’s been some new diploma requirements where kids are, they’re wanting kids to kind of make some decisions a little bit earlier on,” said Bridegroom
Many students at this age aren’t sure what they want to do for a career and the organizers know that. That’s why they included 60 exhibits representing the region’s most in-demand industries.
One business participating is spotlighting the impact data centers will have on its future and the need for a future workforce.
“You hear AI and all these things that are coming around to the communities, and we try to talk about how it’s impacting our business here. A lot of great things are happening, but it’s opportunities for us. So, our jobs aren’t going away because they need us to deliver the electricity to these new AI. All these things that we know of large load customers, they need us so,” said South Bend District I&M Distribution System Manager Brian Lett.
Some companies are highlighting the direct route into the workforce or opportunities for companies to pay for further education.
“We got to show them that we have plenty of opportunities here. You don’t got to go right to school. If you do want to go to school, we have some opportunity here where you can go back to school and we’ll actually help pay for that,” said Lett.
Students will use this experience today to turn their curiosity into a potential future career.
“It’s been a good opportunity to meet lots of different people who work for different companies in different areas of both the different career pathways. It’s a good opportunity to learn about different careers I could potentially take in my future,” said Penn High School Freshmen Amelia Verzatt & Azlaan Siddiqi.
The expo will continue Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Organizers hope to make this an annual event.