PHOTO BY CLAIRE FRANELL
Hermiston students learned about different career opportunities in the area during the Bulldog Career Discovery Fair Wednesday at the Hermiston Conference Center.
The event, sponsored by the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce, the InterMountain Education Service District, and Project College Bound, showcased booths from more than three dozen businesses and institutions. The fields of education, health sciences, business and management, and agricultural and natural resources were among those represented.
In the morning, the elementary school students, followed by older students later in the day, came to the fair with their teachers and classmates. The kids buzzed around the conference center individually or with friends, meeting organization representatives and asking questions about different careers.
There was added incentive for Hermiston High School students: they could earn Career-Related Learning Experience credit toward graduation by recording the professionals’ responses to certain questions about their fields, and then by writing about their fair experience.
HHS student Beckie Wyse was interested in learning about the different fields she hadn’t previously considered, “like the radio station. These are things I don’t think about,” she said.
Student Irvin Morales enjoyed the entomological display at the booth of the OSU Hermiston Agricultural Research Extension Center.
“I like bugs,” Morales said. “I know it’s weird, but it’s a field that interests me.”
For students unsure which career paths they would prefer, the Bulldog Career Discovery Fair was a perfect opportunity to get a general idea of what’s out there.
HHS student Ryan Frye said that the Domestic Violence Services and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers booths had given him some ideas, “but I like to know other information before making a decision.”
The fair was very productive, according to Sergeant First Class Greg Cortaberria, a recruiter for the National Guard.
“Events like this are not so much about the recruiting aspect, but about being seen,” he said.
Umatilla Electric Cooperative Line Superintendent Jim Putman emphasized the importance of career paths that differ from the four-year degree programs toward which students are normally steered in high school.
“Yeah, we encourage them to go to college; but we can’t forget about trade schools. A lot of them don’t know about that,” Putman said.
From the Hermiston Police Department to the Eastern Oregon Homebuilders Association to Cayuse Technologies, the fair offered information on various fields to fit the interests and talents among Hermiston’s next-generation workforce.
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