Scene from LAHS hosted a college and career fair Thursday, April 21. Courtesy/LAPS
Scene from LAHS hosted a college and career fair Thursday, April 21. Courtesy/LAPS
LAHS News:
Los Alamos High School (LAHS) hosted a college and career fair Thursday, April 21. While an official student participation count was not done, it’s estimated hundreds of students took part.
Fifteen colleges, various local businesses (including businesses with apprenticeship programs: N3B, Northern New Mexico College and Southwest Line Constructors), several LANL groups and branches of the military participated in the event.
“I’m not sure we’ve ever done a combined college and career event at the same time,” said Ronda Trujillo, LAHS’s Student Placement Specialist in the College & Career Center, who organized the event. “We had the event going on in both the Auditorium and the Topper Auto Shop, and it was very busy in both locations.”
In addition to the standard college and career fair participants, the Los Alamos County Clerk’s office had a booth giving 18 year old students the opportunity to sign up to vote and advertised student election worker positions.
“The goal was to provide an opportunity for all students to see what regional options exist as far as post-secondary learning and what local entry-level jobs exist post-graduation or just for the summer. I think the event was successful,” Trujillo said.
The fair was a follow up to LAHS/TFA’s most recent advisement class period in early April where all Freshmen, Sophomores and Seniors researched career opportunities using New Mexico’s Career Solutions website.
Cassandra Casperson of LANL’s Student Program’s Office said, “The event was great and I spoke with a number of students who are interested in areas that align with my organization’s needs and would make great interns.”
Dental Assistants from Los Alamos Children’s Dentistry were some of the local professionals at the event; they said, “The LACD Team had so much fun attending the College and Career Fair at the high school! It was great talking to students about the wonderful opportunities in dental assisting. Dental assisting is an amazing career where one gets to help others improve their health and well-being every day. Additionally, dental assisting is a flexible career with good earning potential and certification in less than a year. The LACD Team loved interacting with the students at the high school and discussing the many benefits of the dental assisting field.”
Scott Pomeroy, one of LAHS’s Technical Education teachers, was impressed with how the event turned out and thought it was a great opportunity for kids to explore and learn about their options.
“What can you do with what you know: the career fair pushed that question just a little further down the road,” Pomeroy said. “The kids said they were inspired to think more about their own career paths and to think outside the box because of it. We are grateful that the community supported this and continues to support our career tech classes.”
This is Trujillo’s second year with LAHS but the success of Thursday’s event proved to be a promising start, and she hopes future events with continued partnership with local professionals will be a win-win.
There are plans to do another event next school year, if local businesses and professionals have an interest in participating. Trujillo can be reached at r.trujillo@laschools.net.
Scene from LAHS hosted a college and career fair Thursday, April 21. Courtesy/LAPS
Scene from LAHS hosted a college and career fair Thursday, April 21. Courtesy/LAPS
