Citrus High School held its 2nd annual College and Career Fair Wednesday afternoon. More than 40 local presenters in the job and academic field attended to share their information with the high school students. These presenters included large corporations, first responders, military branches, local colleges, trade schools, and small business owners.
Citrus High School opens this College and Career Fair to all their current students, as well as past alumni. When speaking to teacher Faviola Sifuentes Suarez, she mentioned how Citrus is such a tight knit school. “With Citrus being smaller, we are able to make these connections with our students,” stated Suarez.
Suarez also brings up how the high school students appreciate all of the work their teachers put in, especially when it comes to their future. Every student that visited a booth seemed to be super engaged with the presenter they were talking to.
The booths included Sierra View Medical Center, Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, Porterville Police Department, Barnes Welding Supply, Porterville Fire Department, Setton Farms, OACY’S Technology, Eagle Mountain Casino, Porterville Adult School, Porterville College, College of the Sequoias, AT&T, Porterville Chrysler, Jess & Co Salon, ABC 30 News, U.S. Air Force, U.S. National Guard, San Joaquin Valley College, U.S. Navy, RCC Concrete, Porterville Unified School District Early Education, Shenanigans Tattoo Shop, Education Employees Credit Union, Fresno State, Tulare County Fire, and many more.
Citrus High School pushes to get many different types of businesses to cater to all of their students. The goal with this College and Career Fair is for students to talk to as many presenters as they can and learn what they will need to do to be able to go far in their career of choice.
“We are always looking for different ways to keep our students motivated,” stated Suarez, mentioning how with alternative education it's important to keep students interested and motivated.
As he looks to graduate this spring, Citrus High School Senior Waylon Whitten, talked a little bit about how it was “really cool” for staff to put this on for students, “It gives a lot of kids the opportunity to talk to different people and see how many options are available for them,” stated Whitten.
Not only were students able to talk to large corporations, small businesses were also in attendance to give students information. Tattoo shops were also in attendance for the more artistic students. Public safety such as Porterville Police Department and Porterville Fire Department were also there to share with students the steps of becoming a first responder.
For entertainment, Citrus High School invited Pioneer Middle School’s Mariachi Band to play during the fair. The middle school students made sure to keep the fair energetic and lively with their beautiful music.
Citrus High School staff hopes to continue to grow this College and Career Fair annually as staff explained how important this fair is to a smaller, alternative education school such as CHS.