From left, United High School career programming teacher Kate Davidson and United freshman Hayden Soliday look at a Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District display while talking with SWCD Wildlife and Forestry Specialist John Beilhart during Columbiana County AG Career Day at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds Thursday. More than 300 to 350 students from seven area schools participated in the event, learning about resume writing, interview tips and careers in agriculture. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
LISBON — A career in agricultural isn’t just about farming the land or caring for livestock — that’s the lesson learned by area high school students Thursday at the Columbiana County Ag Career Expo.
“A lot of folks don’t realize how many careers there are in agriculture,” Ohio State University Extension Educator Haley Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker serves in the area of agriculture and natural resources at the OSU Extension in Columbiana County, which hosted the Ag Career Expo for the second year at the county fairgrounds in Lisbon.
“The overall goal of this event is to give students the opportunity to interact with career finds they may not have known existed,” she said.
Ag law, ag engineering, turf management, forestry, livestock nutrition and animal sciences, meat processing, agricultural communications and journalism, aquaponics, agronomy, biological sciences and wildlife officer are just a few examples.
More than 300 to 350 students from seven Columbiana County school districts were expected to attend the event which included career exploration with professionals in the various agricultural businesses in the county and surrounding area and professional development sessions on resume building and interview tips.
“Whether they’re interested in an ag career or not, they’re (OSU Extension) here to create an awareness of what ag careers are all about so students can make more intelligent choices,” Columbiana County ESC Career Counselor John Biastro said.
Biasto works at the Leetonia K-12 campus and brought several students to the event, commenting that seeing the different career possibilities may spark some interest by students.
“This is a great way to start networking early,” Shoemaker said.
Students were encouraged to introduce themselves to participating business partners and career professionals and ask questions about what they do and what the future looks like for employment in their chosen field.
Shoemaker said this was also an opportunity to learn how to start conversations and dialogues with career professionals. In resume building, students learned what should be included in a resume, how a resume should look and what can kill a resume. They also learned interview techniques.
This was the second year for the Ag Career Expo.
“We hope to keep growing it and expanding the reach of the program every year,” Shoemaker said.
Tyler Gentry, agriscience educator and Future Farmers of American advisor at United High School, said he appreciated the OSU Extension putting on the Ag Career Expo. The district brought 30 students to participate and he said he has 100 students in FFA.
“This opens up my students’ eyes as far as businesses that have opportunities for them post high school,” he said, explaining that not all students are college-bound, some join the workforce right after graduation.
Source: The Review |
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Original content:
https://www.reviewonline.com/news/local-news/2023/10/local-students-attend-ag-career-expo/
