The Battle Ground Public Schools’ Industry Fair at Battle Ground High School has connected students and the community to industry leaders and employers for a decade.
The 10th installment of the industry fair is set to take place at Battle Ground High School on Thursday, Feb. 20, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Visitors have the opportunity to learn about apprenticeships and jobs in health care, education, manufacturing, technology, construction, finance and more. A resume workshop will be available in the Battle Ground High School career center from 3 to 5 p.m.
Employers and career opportunity ambassadors in attendance include the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Clark County Jail Services, Columbia West Engineering, Divine Home Health Care, Elite Dental Assisting Academy, FedEx Freight, Prairie Electric, Union Pacific Railroad and many others across a wide range of industries.
Battle Ground High School Career Guidance Specialist Kevin Doyle believes the 10th annual industry fair will continue to grow with hundreds of people stopping by in the two-hour time frame.
“We had about 75 employers attend the industry fair and we had within the two-hour time frame about 350 to 400 people attend, and we have been consistent since,” Doyle said of the first few years of the industry fair. “Probably in the last five years we’ve increased it to over 500. The past couple of years, we’ve had over 700 people attend the Industry Fair, and so I know it’s impressive for our community, for Battle Ground and for Southwest Washington.”
Doyle added that he feels fortunate to have a great community full of support from industry representatives and the families and students that attend. With students and other community members meeting industry leaders and employers, Doyle said that connection is extremely important.
The connection starts at the career center where Doyle and other staff help guide students toward career and college paths. Doyle said they call it “pop for a plan” as every year they provide students with a different “pop” item, this past year being Poptarts, to help students with filling out financial aid applications, college applications and more.
“You know, freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors that come into the career center at that time, we’ll sit down and talk with them and help them prepare their future education and hopefully guide them like, ‘Hey, you need to take these classes’” Doyle said.
If a student wants to become an electrician, he goes over what classes at the high school can help lead toward a career in the industry, from construction and welding classes to electrical and HVAC programs.
Doyle said it is important to start preparing students for the idea of the workforce at the middle school level and even the primary school level. He added the district prepares students for not just trade industries but for all aspects of the local job market.
“In our middle schools, we have our STEM programs and that’s our science, technology and math, and so those particular programs are really guiding a lot of our students,” he said, adding that they even start with fourth graders with an opportunity and career fair held at Battle Ground High School. “We host that in the spring and we have employers there. We have a lot of things like, fire department, health, science and our CTE programs at the high school. We bus all our fourth graders from all our primary schools to the high school so they have an opportunity to see and explore hands-on activities and so we’re really trying to focus not just middle school but all the way down to primary.”
