Career Expo for Culpeper County Students

Published in the Star Exponent Monday, September 13, 2010:

The Career Expo for the Culpeper County School system will be held on September 23rd. This year will be the largest Career Expo ever for the Culpeper County School students. The Culpeper Chamber of Commerce, Career Partners, Inc, and the Career & Technical Department of the School System are working together to bring 40 businesses to talk with 2400 students this year.

Each business will talk with approximately 300 students in small groups of 10-20 during the full day of career discussions. The day is so busy for the businesses that we are providing a box lunch and no lunch break. There will be a 10 minute break between groups which will allow for a quick bite to eat.

We moved the Career Expo from spring to September. This allows the students to connect the career opportunities with academic requirements. Having this early in the year provides the students with additional motivation to excel academically.

Another new aspect of the Career Expo this year is that we have included the 8th grade students from both middle schools. The career counselors from the middle schools are interested in helping the students to understand the career options as they approach high school. F. T. Binns held a career expo last spring for the rising 8th graders and the response was excellent. We wanted to include the 8th grade students as a part of the main Career Expo early in the school year this year.

This is also a significant commitment from the business community. Their donation of time and resources to help the students is exceptional. The business professionals are well received by the students. The students know some of the business leaders that come to the Career Expo – requesting them year after year. Yes, this is a sacrifice for each business. However, I have seen how much the business professionals receive out of the program as well. There are no regrets when the day is over, everyone wins… evidence of our outstanding community.

The areas of business that we cover are manufacturing, retail, technology, agribusiness, automotive, accounting, aviation, banking, child care, engineering, entrepreneurship, government, health care, human resources, law enforcement, marketing, media, non-profit, real estate, veterinary, and a few others. If you are a business and interested in helping – please contact JCharapich@CulpeperVAChamber.com. We have most areas of business filled. However, there are a few opportunities still open to participate.

Best Regards

Jim Charapich

President / CEO
Culpeper Chamber of Commerce