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8th-graders get a taste of the future at Career Expo
By Phyllis Coulter
pcoulter@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON — Ashley Bolin, an eighth-grader at Kingsley Junior High School, would like a career in law or policing.

Seeing other career options didn’t change her mind Wednesday.

She was among more than 1,600 eighth-graders from a dozen schools in McLean, DeWitt and Woodford counties who attended the first Career Expo at the Interstate Center, 2301 W. Market St., Bloomington. The event was sponsored by Bloomington Area Vocational Center and McLean County Community Compact.

They got a chance to explore a range of possibilities, including cosmetology, culinary arts, welding, and nursing, offered in 13 career programs offered by the Bloomington Area Vocational Center, said its director, Tom Frazier.

“It used to be that kids could wait until their senior year to start worrying about careers and occupations,” said Mindy Bolin, Ashley’s mother, who was among the parent volunteers at the event. Now they need an earlier start, she said.

The career expo is part of an effort to help eighth-graders make better choices for their high school courses, said Sue Bandy, director of the McLean County Community Compact, a coalition of business and education leaders working in partnership with University of Illinois Extension.

“There was lots of variety,” said Chiddix Junior High School student Mitch Day about the number of careers featured. “It gave me a lot of ideas for the future.”

Day said he had never considered taking a course at the area vocational center on the Bloomington High School campus before, but he is interested now.

Some of the presenters were students themselves. Josh Rhodes, a Normal Community West High School senior in his second year of culinary arts at the area vocational center, handed out cookies with fancy icing to eighth-graders.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Rhodes, who hopes to study culinary arts in Chicago with an emphasis on pastry.

Peg Lucht, director of nursing at Heritage Manor, said the nursing home hasn’t been involved with a career fair for junior high school students before. It demands more interactive activities but is very rewarding, she said.

Phil Kibler and his vocational center students demonstrated their metalworking skills and explained the schools’ working relationship with Caterpillar Inc. Through the program, students get training and sometimes jobs at Caterpillar, he said.

A lot of people don’t know about education opportunities at Midwest College of Cosmetology in Normal, an extension of Lincoln College. It’s a place where students can live on campus, get an associate’s degree and “follow a passion for fashion and beauty,” said admissions assistant Josey Langhoff.

At the expo, eighth-grade boys weren’t interested in cosmetology at first, and then the hairdressers did the first Mohawk haircut, she said. “Then we were swamped.”

State Farm Insurance Cos. and Illinois State University were among the other institutions showcasing opportunities.

Take a look
Kingsley Junior High students Emily Frank, Heather Wetzel and Melissa Palma enjoy cookies made by the Culinary Arts at the Bloomington Area Vocational Center at the Career Expo hosted by McLean County Compact and the Bloomington Area Vocational Center. (Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK) (October, 24, 2007)
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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Liked It wrote on Oct 26, 2007 2:53 PM:

" Great event, do it again next year. "

Lamont wrote on Oct 26, 2007 9:24 AM:

" This was an amazing event. I am glad to see that the programs ands careers in this area are finally getting the recognition that it deserves! The students were well behaved that the organizers really did a great job with this event as well. Congrats to the BAVC and the McLean County Community COMPACT!!!! "

Former BAVC Student wrote on Oct 25, 2007 8:21 PM:

" The Bloomington AVC offers great programs! It gave me an idea of what I wanted to do, and let me better see why I was learning some of the other "stuff" in high school. It motivated me to advance my education after high school! Keep offering those great opporunities for students. More high school students should take advantage! "

my daughter went to this.. wrote on Oct 25, 2007 2:08 PM:

" and i must say she was not very happy that they didnt more then one table w/information to be a teacher.. "

Excellent Job! wrote on Oct 25, 2007 1:34 PM:

" Kudos to the organizers of this excellent event! McLean County COMPACT and the Bloomington AVC should be commended on a wonderful opportunity for the students in our area. Thank you for a well-organized event that hopefully opened the minds of many students in attendance and gave the current AVC students a chance to shine. "

good event wrote on Oct 25, 2007 7:19 AM:

" This sounds like a really good event. A photo gallery would have been fun. I'd rather see photos on this than photos of accident scenes.... "
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