Career fair primes area students for homegrown success

Area young people got the opportunity to form connections with local businesses and industries at the Homegrown Success Career Fair held Tuesday at the Simek Recreation Center in Medford.

The event was organized by Medford Area Senior High School guidance counselor Terry Lybert with the hope of showing young people what careers were available in the community. He said he was pleased to see the positive response from the business community with more than 70 employers participating.

All Medford high school students attended the event during their English and social studies classes with the assignment to report on information received from talking with a number of businesses.

In addition to Medford students, the Prentice School District and Gilman School District also brought students.

Gilman Dean of Students Mike Gingras said the program was valuable to showing students what was available for careers in their own backyards. He noted that many people are unaware of what is available in this area.

The careers presented ranged from manufacturing, service, healthcare and skilled trades.

Justin Nelson of Better Built Custom Cabinetry was at the event and sharing his experience as being part of the apprenticeship program. Nelson, who grew up on a dairy farm, said prior to going into the apprenticeship he had not envisioned a career in cabinet making nor did he realize the work that went into designing and building cabinets. The apprenticeship program provides him with the ability to learn the skills needed to do the job. He said he was grateful for the opportunity and encourages other young people to pursue apprenticeship opportunities.