Dekaney High School senior Kherryn Lapuz speaks with representatives from Keller Williams Reality as she explores college and professional pathways at the Spring ISD Career Connection Expo.
HOUSTON – Feb. 26, 2018 – Dekaney High School junior Janae Chevis and senior Kherryn Lapuz couldn’t help but think about the future as they visited tables and talked to business leaders Friday during the Spring ISD Career Connections Expo.
“I’m just looking around right now, but I’m getting more information about college and jobs after college, as well as jobs for the summertime,” said Chevis, in between stops at the tables of some 50 participating organizations and companies.
That kind of exposure is the goal of the event, according to Cynthia Williams, director of Career and Technical Education at Spring ISD. This year’s program included more opportunities than ever with business partners informing students about professional pathways, colleges and technical schools making presentations about their programs and the district’s college counselors working with students seeking financial aid and scholarships.
“We are always building partnerships,” said Williams. “An interesting one from today is the Houston Fire Department. I was able to talk to them about working with our firefighter program at Spring High School.”
HFD’s Luciano Cantu said students were especially interested in learning more about state tuition waivers for some universities for qualified first responders in Texas. “The biggest thing that I look for in students is for them to say I want to make a difference,” he said.
CTE counselors worked with teachers at Spring ISD high school campuses to select about 90 students from each school to participate. The students, dressed professionally and with resumes in hand, cycled through the professional, college and counseling areas on the lookout for opportunities, while CTE staff worked the crowd to make sure the students were exposed to the wide range of possibilities available.