RESA, Partners Holding Career Pathway Day This Month

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Kinexus, Berrien RESA, and Lake Michigan College are teaming up for a Career Pathway Day this month to help local ninth graders learn about possibilities for the future. RESA Assistant Superintendent Chris Machiniak tells us around 2,000 career and technical education students will be at the Mendel Center on October 28 to meet with employers.

“The students will come in an they will participate in hands-on activities, whether that be one of the CTE programs that our county offers, the post-secondary, or the industry members,” Machiniak said.

Machiniak says more than 40 employers will be there, representing industries that include healthcare, manufacturing, arts and communications, and human services, among other things. Why focus on ninth graders?

“That’s the age, right around the seventh, eighth, ninth grade levels, are kind of key components to really open the eyes of those students moving forward. Especially the ninth graders, they can start selecting some of these CTE classes, if not in the tenth grade, then definitely in the eleventh grade.”

Machiniak says the organizations have held Career Pathway Day before, but not for the last couple of years. Representatives of colleges and universities will also be there. Organizers say helping young people understand the career pathways available to them will enable them grow into successful adults right here in southwest Michigan.