They came from nine Wiregrass counties and they came in droves. They assembled at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan and there were thousands of them. They were eighth-grade students eager to learn more about careers and which careers might be of personal interest. The first Wiregrass WORKS, scheduled to be an annual event, provided the students a hands-on experience and a chance to question subject matter experts on hundreds of possible careers.

Wiregrass WORKS, Workforce Opportunities Require Knowledge and Skills, is a career experience fair developed and implemented by the Region 10 Workforce Development Council of Alabama to show students what career paths are available to them locally. Almost 100 exhibitors form local businesses, industries, and schools were on hand to demonstrate, discuss and showcase a wide variety of careers and education paths to the young people.

AIDT keychains at Wiregrass WORKS. (Katie Thomas)

Amanda Hardy, Region 10 Career Coach for Henry County and Eufaula City Schools, explained, “Today, students are being asked to select a career path in the ninth- grade, and they have to plan their classes for four years according to that decision. February is an ideal time to hold Wiregrass WORKS, as most students will select classes for the fall semester later this spring.,” she concluded.

Students made their way through three “zones” and were provided guides and salary information for each area. Student handbooks included information and questionnaires to help determine which careers interested them the most, and tips on behavior and what to wear when applying for jobs.

Exhibitors ranged from educational institutions, aviation and aerospace technologies, construction and manufacturing, to logistics, public safety and military, utilities, healthcare and agribusiness. Students were pleasantly surprised with the amount of lucrative jobs available in southeast Alabama.

Kiadra Brown, Pike County High School student, had no idea you could make a six-figure salary behind the wheel of a diesel, “I didn’t know you could make $100,000 driving a truck around,” she said.

The Dothan Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol’s display drew in some of the biggest crowds as they gave rides on a working hover craft during the exhibit. Squadron Commander David Skinner explained while the hovercraft did not have any practical applications for their typical search and rescue missions, it did aid in creating excitement and interest for the CAP and aerospace education.

“We are here trying to find students to be cadets to train in emergency service course education. They can also learn to fly through us. We are a volunteer only organization,” stated Commander Skinner.

CAP cadets can range in age from 12 to 18, and as many students learned, joining as a cadet is not an obligation to join the military, however ten percent of the Air Force Academy cadets got their start in CAP. The CAP display also included flight simulators and informational videos about the CAP emergency services and rescue missions.

Hovercraft on display at Wiregrass WORKS. (Katie Thomas)

Alabama Industrial Development Training, AIDT, took the hands-on experience to another level by offering students the chance to use skills required for commercial jet assembly  in practical applications by building keychains they could take home as souvenirs. AIDT offers a wide array of workforce development training, and encourages workforce development through job-specific training, such as the Commercial Jet Academy – an eight week, no-cost program to train aircraft structural assemblers.

According to one AIDT exhibitor and Project Manager, Bobby John Drinkard, the students they interacted with had an impressive interest level and high sense of urgency to find out more about programs AIDT offers. Having students exposed to different career paths is crucial to workforce development, according to Drinkard, “You can’t develop skill sets until you develop interests,” he said.

While students meandered through hosts of exhibitors and career options from healthcare providers to criminal investigators, they seemed to be drawn to the most interactive displays – the utility company displays, diesel mechanic displays, and the vast Enterprise State Community College display.

ESCC and the Alabama Aviation Center took a different approach to what they showcased at the career fair. Turbine Engine Instructor, Jerry Northway, said he let his students decide what would be most interesting to display, “Students picked out things they had learned in class that were both a skill and something fun to learn to share with the kids,” he explained.With their creativity in full bloom, ESCC students fashioned nine different interactive displays including a Black Light Testing display which showed potential avionics students how to use black lights as a non-destructive tool to inspect defects inside metal. An Advanced Composites display showed students not only what aircrafts are being made from, but also how versatile and strong the substance can be.

“ESCC will have a course coming soon to the Ozark campus on Advanced Composites,” stated Jenna Judah, an ESCC Recruiter. “The course will show more on how to build and repair the composites. This will be a two semester, five course class, that will graduate students with a National Center for Aircraft Technician Training, or NCATT, certificate.”

Julie Davis, Wiregrass WORKS Logistics Chair, summed it up nicely, “This experience gives students and teachers an overview of high-demand, high-wage career opportunities that addresses the workforce needs in our region. We think 2016 was a great success, and we are already planning for the 2017 event.”