8th Grade Career Expo
The Career Expo is offered to engage all McLean County 8th grade students in a hands-on career experience in specific career areas, offering them the opportunity to see and consider these career areas for pursuit in the future. Those career areas targeted by the Bloomington Area Career Center, as well as a wide range of other careers, are represented at this event. For example, in November of 2010, students enjoyed displays from the fields of medicine, automotive, justice, photography, construction, cosmetology, culinary arts, and childcare, among many others. The Expo targets 8th graders because at the end of their school year, they will be choosing the courses they will take in high school. Our goal is to help students align their course choices with their future career interests. To make their first choice of courses at the high school level easier and more efficient, a preview of what careers are out there for the students can be very beneficial at this time. Counselors have less and less time to work with individual students. By use of an online career assessment, Career Cruising, students are able to narrow down their career interests and review future course requirements on their own at any time. The students complete Career Cruising before they come to the Expo, so they have careers in mind when they tour the booths.
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A program of the University of Illinois Extension.