Tenth-grade students from both public and private schools filled the Shelby County Exhibition Center in Columbiana on September 12 and September 13 for the annual Career Awareness Fair hosted by the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce.

The event provided an opportunity for business professionals to share information with students on the education, training requirements, salary range, workplace expectations to be employed in a variety of career fields.

The business professionals were from careers included in Alabama’s 16 Career Technical Education Career Clusters which include: Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources; Architecture & Construction;
Arts, AV Technology & Communication; Business Management & Administration; Education & Training; Finance; Government & Public Administration; Health Science; Hospitality & Tourism; Human Services; Information Technology; Law, Public Safety, Corrections, Security; Manufacturing; Marketing; Science, Technology, Engineering, Math; and Transportation, Distribution, Logistics.

Several of the guest speakers included Shelby County Schools employees and board members including Dr. Lewis Brooks, assistant superintendent of administration and pupil services; Rick Vines, transportation coordinator; Brent Copes, transportation supervisor; Fred Watson, technical services supervisor; and Peg Hill, board member.

Students attending the event were allowed to visit three career clusters in which they had a specific career interest according to the results of their Kuder Navigator career assessment and one of their own choice.  Students were given sample interview questions to ask the presenters in order to gain more perspective about each career choice, such as why they choose that particular career, education and training requirements, promotion opportunities, advantages and disadvantages, and career satisfaction.

Students from the Shelby County School District were also taken on tours of the Shelby County College and Career Center to see the various Career Technical programs available for students to take as elective courses.  Those courses include automotive technology, collision repair, construction technology, cosmetology, culinary arts, healthcare science, landscape design technology, plumbing & pipe-fitting, public service academy, robotics & automated manufacturing, and welding.