Hundreds attend UMPI Career Fair
PRESQUE ISLE — Over 700 high school sophomores from Aroostook County schools attended the second annual Career Fair held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus on April 1.
Photo courtesy of Tracy Corbin
Cheryl Bossie, from Academy Dental in Presque Isle, at left, uses the dental simulator machine to show students what it’s like to be a dental hygienist, during an April 1 career fair held at UMPI. About 700 students from throughout Aroostook participated in the annual event.
The Career Fair is organized by the Northern Maine Counseling Association, a group of Aroostook County guidance and admission counselors.
“As area guidance counselors and admission counselors, we have a good sense of the careers that our students are looking to pursue and we’ve arranged for local professionals from those in-demand careers to present at our Career Fair,” said Tracy Corbin, a local guidance counselor and member of the Career Fair Planning Committee.
Corbin said the purpose of the Career Fair is to offer targeted career information to local sophomores so that they can plan accordingly during their high school years to take the right course work to prepare for their career.
“For example, many students want to pursue a career in the health and medical field, but many do not realize that colleges require lab biology, lab chemistry and an upper-level math sequence in order to get accepted into those competitive programs. Getting this information as a sophomore helps students make informed decisions for their future,” Corbin said.
Unlike typical fairs where students walk around and visit a variety of “booth-style” presenters, students pre-registered for their top two career choices from a list of around 40 represented occupations. Students then spent 45 minutes with each career presenter in a classroom setting, hearing about the career field and, in most cases, getting the chance to participate in a hands-on activity.
“For example, students who visited the dental hygiene presentation had the opportunity to work on a ‘patient’ using the dental simulator machine, and students who visited the truck driving and heavy equipment presentation actually got the opportunity to climb up into some of the MDOT’s equipment,” she said.
“We encourage our presenters to offer an experiential learning opportunity for the students, which is very different from the typical fair or classroom experience,” Corbin said. “We would not be able to offer our students this experience if it wasn’t for the generosity of our local businesses and schools who either gave up their time to present or made financial and in-kind contributions to the Northern Maine Counseling Association.”
If you are interested in keeping this initiative going and would like to help sponsor next year’s Career Fair, financial contributions can be submitted to the Northern Maine Counseling Association’s treasurer, Sadie Shaw, at: Central Aroostook Jr/Sr High School, 26 Pleasant St., Mars Hill, ME 04758.
