La Porte County Students Get Excited About Their Futures After “Future Careers Expo”

La Porte County Students Get Excited About Their Futures After “Future Careers Expo”

On Thursday, students attending the A.K. Smith Career Center in Michigan City donned their suit, ties, and heels prepared to take that first step toward their future.

The fair was divided into three categories: a panel discussion and presentation by Dr. Vanessa Allen - President of the Urban League of Northwest Indiana, exhibits from local colleges and technical programs, and the intimidating part students claimed: mock interviews with people in the business community.

For days leading up to the fair, students were being prepared for the big event. A.K. Smith Area Center Career Counselor Kathy Angelo said local business members helped students get ready for the interviews and talks with the representative.

“We had people come in and do a fashion show where students dressed in what was correct to wear and what was not,” she said.

They were also given tips and advice from teachers about resumes, cover letters, and references, and what questions to ask themselves.

After the event, students were able to get back into their regular attire, but the fire was lit for many of them as they are ready to take on their future. The A.K. Smith Center is a school for junior and senior-level students and offers career and technical Education (CTE) classes. These include automotive technology, cosmetology, childcare, criminal justice, fire science, EMT, energy, and many more. For the juniors, such as Taylor Ridle, a criminal justice student, and Dylan Bradburn, an energy student, the fair was their introduction to the career side of their education.

“I was scared,” Ridle said, before the fair.

Mike Mahaffey, a senior in the energy program, attended the fair for the second time, but he already knew what to say and to whom.

“The fair was amazing. It went without a hitch,” he said. “Some students even get job offers here.” Mahaffey plans on going right into the Energy Academy, certified by NIPSCO.

Nearly every class instructor requires their students to attend the fair and engage. Though the high grade is important, engaging in the interviews and talking to the college representatives offers a type of hands-on experience that you cannot get anywhere else, Mahaffey explained.

“And they are tough,” he said.

Raymond Goss is the instructor of the mechanical program. He walked around the fair, guiding students and lending some support when needed.

“Some interviewers are tough,” Goss said. “They let you know if your shirt is crinkled, if you’re slouching. The fairs are a nice thing because my welding students can talk to people of those type of careers, but also can talk to someone in the business field.”

Christian Toney, also in the criminal justice program, said the center is great because there is a lot of hands-on work. He practices handcuffing, gun safety, and visits the Michigan City Police Station often, since the instructor is a Michigan City Police Officer himself.

“It was easy,” Toney said of the fair. Since he already is set on going into the military, he knew which people to talk to. “We went to different rooms and talked to the interviewers. They asked a lot of questions about ourselves, like ‘Where did we see ourselves in five years? In 25 years?’ That one was tough.”

The A.K Smith Center has doubled its student population in the last five years. The classes offered are dual-credit, meaning while getting grades at the center, they are also getting college credit for a local institution.

“Most local businesses and unions requires an Associate’s degree,” Mahaffey said. “All the programs, when you graduate, you get certain certifications too.”

The school has not only doubled in students, but the number of programs offered has grown. The EMT program is new, and programs like the criminal justice and energy program have waiting lists to get into them.

Overall though, the center is not just work, work, work. Every Friday, the Automotive Technology students have personal projects where they bring in their own cars to work on. On Friday, Feb. 17, the students were taking a field trip to Chicago to attend the Chicago Auto Show. Plus, the fair was a way to get out of the classroom and into real-world experience.

“Students liked what was offered at the fair,” Mahaffey said. “It is great every year.”

Once the fair is over, the ties loosened and the heels kicked off, students can look back at their feedback from the interviewers to learn and improve upon for the future.

“You think you did so bad because you were nervous, then you see that “Hey, I actually did well,’” Ridle said, laughing.

To learn more about the La Porte County Career and Technical Education call (219)873-2120 or click here.