BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Nearly 1,000 students from 11 school districts and representatives from 70 colleges and employers gathered at the Gov. Charlie E. Johns Conference Center on Thursday, February 8, for the Northeast Florida Education Consortium’s College and Career Fair.
Event organizer Jamie Viera said the event included hands-on equipment students could use to preview careers in certain fields.
She added that the North Florida Technical College’s truck driving program is a popular vendor with the students.
She also said some students can walk away from the event with an offer in hand.
“We have a lot of apprenticeships being offered, so the kids can walk out of high school, get a job, and continue their education at the same time,” she said.
Jenny Sullivan, an occupational placement specialist at North Florida Technical College, said students asked a lot of questions about the school’s most popular programs, like nursing, welding, and truck driving.
Michael Anderson, the associate director of Santa Fe College’s emergency medical services programs, said he fielded questions about his own program in addition to the law enforcement track at Santa Fe.
“My goal is not so much to get them into my program but to get them interested in a career,” he said. “So, whether they achieve it by coming to my school or one of the other qualifying schools, I’m just happy to see them make good career choices.”
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Scott Blackall also talked a lot about law enforcement with students.
“We can be a gateway to them being a police officer,” he said. “We’re federal law enforcement officers, so we give them the opportunity to become a cop later if they choose not to make the Coast Guard a career.”
Blackall said the number of students at the event impressed him.
“There are a lot of students here,” he said. “It is pretty incredible to see the quantity of kids. We don’t get too many opportunities where we have that many different schools participating in one event.”
