(Seguin) — Hundreds of area youth this week will get a chance to catch a glimpse of what could be their future careers. More than 800 students from middle schools in the Seguin, Navarro and Marion school districts will be visting the Seguin Colisuem on Wednesday for the annual Seguin Youth Career Expo. The students, along with dozens of local employers, will come together with one goal in mind — and that’s to explore a world of opportunities and to begin shaping their future career pathways.
Ashlyn Tovar, the city’s industry and workforce development manager, says the event is a collaboration between the Seguin Economic Development Corporation, local schools, and Workforce Solution Alamo’s Youth Empowerment Services program.
“The Seguin Youth Career Expo is a large event. It connects our eighth graders with diverse career opportunities, while also cross referencing the career and technical education pathways offered at Navarro High School, Seguin High School, and the Marion ISD. It’s an Expo that will showcase both of those things via local companies, and then also the high school career pathways being showcased as well, at the same time,” said Tovar.
These eighth graders will soon be selecting their courses and pathways as they prepare for the start of their high school careers. Tovar says this expo will give them an up close and personal look at a variety of jobs and opportunities that exist in this community and beyond.
“The goal really is to provide valuable insights into those industries and provide a space for these eighth graders to network, but also get hands on to really understand the industry. So, it’s not just your typical ‘here’s some information’ type of expo. It’s allowing these students to come in and really get hands on within that specific industry. So, each company is going to have an interactive piece within their booths. We’re really trying to inspire these eighth graders before they choose their career pathways in high school (and help them) to really get a feel for what they might want to do as they start to transition in as a freshman,” said Tovar.
Tovar says this event has been well received by both the students and the companies. She says the students will be allowed to make their way around the Coliseum and meet with a number of the businesses. The companies will give the students plenty of opportunities to gain some first-hand knowledge about how they operate, and the skills that are required for each job.
“As the students walk in, they’re going to be provided a bag, that actually was provided by us – the Seguin EDC and in conjunction with Workforce Solutions Alamo. They’ll walk into the expo. They will receive a little stamp card, that will have eight companies listed on them at random. They will be able to walk around the showcase. For instance, if there’s a construction booth — Lone Star Home Solutions is going to be there, they’re going to have equipment set up at their table where students can come in really get hands-on and get a wrench and start to mess with that equipment. In the fire department’s booth, they could put on the fire department equipment. So, they’re going to be allowed to do that. We’ll have our city of Seguin Electric Department doing a demo at their specific booth. We’ll have some 3-D printers on site. And we will have the welding of simulator on site,” said Tovar.
The students will stop by their selected booths. Each stop will give them a chance to get closer to winning a prize that will be given away at the end of the event. Tovar says it will be a fun, interactive and educational experience for each student that attends the expo.
“Every single booth is going to have an interactive piece where a student can actually get hands-on in that industry — whether that be put something on as far as clothing is concerned or get involved in a demonstration or activity. So, as they walk around, they’ll be able to get those stamp cards filled out, interact with the company, and then turn in that stamp card for a prize at the very end,” said Tovar.
The Seguin Youth Career Expo is really a win-win situation for the students and the employers. Tovar says these kids will eventually makeup the workforce in this area. So, it’s important for these companies to introduce themselves. She says it’s also important for the students to see all the options that they have available to them in the future.
“It’s all about really building that talent pipeline. Not only from a high school perspective, but really trying to target those younger individuals, because it starts in that age gap when they’re really starting to think about what their future looks like,” said Tovar.
Participating employers include CMC Steel Texas, Master’s Electrical, Parker’ss Building Supply, Spark!, GBRA, United Alloy, TX FAME Lone Star, Lone Star Home Solutions, SAMSAT, city of Seguin Information Technology, GVEC Cyber Security, GVEC Marketing/Graphic Design, Vitesco Technologies, Blue Horizon, Visit Seguin, Guadalupe County Detention, Teijin Automotive Technologies, HEB, Seguin Independent School District, First Commercial Bank, Great Clips, Moss and Willow, Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC), Seguin Fire Department, Seguin Electric Department, Caterpillar, Alamo Group and the Seguin Police Department.