More than 150 local high school students participated in Newton DMACC’s Career Discovery Day on Thursday. The program offered students a peak into many different career paths and provided hands-on experiences.
In the morning, students engaged in three separate sessions of their choice. DMACC offers a diverse collection of training. Students were guided in auto collision, building trades, business, court reporting, criminal justice, culinary arts, electrical construction, health occupations, nursing, teaching and welding.
The high schoolers received hands-on guidance to get a basic understanding of what skills are necessary for potential careers. After lunch, they headed out to tour local businesses and places of employment to see the skills being applied in the professional world.
“The Career Discovery Days are born out of a grant that was given out three years ago,” said DMACC Career Discovery Network Coordinator Amy Steenhoek. “The purpose of the grant is to try to connect high school students and education to business and industry.”
Each of DMACC’s campuses hosts its own Career Discovery Day and partners with local businesses and industries to show students examples of what they could do with a degree or training.
“The businesses really enjoy it because it’s a way for them to market who they are,” Steenhoek said. “The students will get a first-hand look at those facilities and hopefully get to talk to some employees about what they do, what types of skills are needed, what they look for when they hire people.”
Businesses in advanced manufacturing, in particular, are in dire need of employees, Steenhoek said. She said the activities allow students to come to DMACC and see real, good-paying jobs that are in demand right now.
Newton High School industrial tech teacher Todd Lucas brought a group of students to DMACC to discover the opportunities. He said the college has done a good job of promoting its career academy. By bringing kids out to the campus, Lucas said, they can see what the school offers and take part in hands-on activities.
“Four-year colleges are great for some kids,” Lucas said. “We have a lot of kids that aren’t bound that way. They need something else.”
Terry Norton is the director of the career academy at DMACC’s Newton campus. He said the event gives students an opportunity to get inside the building, which is the first step.
“It gives students a chance in the morning to see everything from culinary arts to welding if they want to,” Norton said. “They get to see a real variety of programs, which is really nice.”
The Newton campus offers some unique programs, including the only court reporting program in Iowa and the only electrical construction program within the DMACC network. Getting the students to think about the next step beyond high school is part of Career Discovery Day’s mission, Norton said.
“Whether they come to DMACC or wherever they go, we just want to see students go on and get additional training and education,” he said.
Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121
ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com