College and career fair connects students with post-graduation opportunities

Director of Coshocton CARES Caley Song was excited to see everyone come together to make the annual college and career fair a success.

“There are so many opportunities here for students to make connections,” she said.

The college and career fair was held Oct. 14 at Kids America, and all area high school juniors and seniors attended during the school day. Once they arrived, students could visit with admissions counselors from more than 40 colleges, universities, technical schools and trade schools, as well as military recruiters and around 30 local and county employers and trade unions.

“College isn’t always for everyone, so we wanted to make sure we had trade and military options,” Song said.

One of the companies with a table set up at the fair was McWane Ductile.

“We wanted to get out in the community and show kids options they have available after graduation,” said Brandy Casey, HR generalist.

Sydney Hadley, senior HR generalist, said, “We have positions for as soon as they graduate, and for students who go on to college, we have co-ops. We want them to see there are opportunities for them to stay local.”

Sgt. Yaniv Yaacobi, enlisted accessions recruiter for the U.S. Air Force, was glad to be part of the college and career fair.

“Some don’t know what all we offer,” he said. “A lot of people just think about pilots, but only 3% of those in the Air Force become pilots. We have a lot of different jobs available.”

Yaacobi also wanted students to know the armed forces can help them with their college and career goals.

“It’s not a detour,” he said. “It’s just a different path to get to where you want to go.”

Amber Lovett, admissions representative and events coordinator for COTC, highlighted the school’s health care and engineering programs and the Coshocton Promise.

“Your tuition can be covered if you meet certain eligibility requirements,” she said.

She was excited to see so many options available to the students at the college and career fair.

“There is a lot for them to explore,” Lovett said.

Susan Nolan said prior to the fair, she and other Coshocton CARES staff met with students in their classrooms to prepare them for the event and encourage them to thank those they met with.

“We wanted them to have questions ready, know how to introduce themselves and put their best foot forward,” Nolan said.

The Coshocton CARES College & Career Fair was sponsored by Kiwanis and McWane Ductile. Coshocton CARES is a United Way Agency. For more information on Coshocton CARES, visit its Facebook page or email caley.song@cccareer.org.