The annual Career and Internship Expo took place on Feb. 11 inside the Arcadia High School (AHS) CTE Gym. Various local businesses, organizations, programs, and public service departments participated in the expo in hopes of engaging with students. Taking place from periods 3 to 5, the event gave students the chance to explore various career paths and learn about internship opportunities.
“We started planning in September,” said CTE Coordinator Nancy Castro. “There were a lot of cold calls — a lot of no’s and a lot of yeses.”
This year’s Expo offered insight into careers, including but not limited to media, healthcare, law, trade professions, and public service. The Arcadia Fire Department, Arcadia Police Department, and Apache News were some of the booths that returned this year. All of the booths had representatives eager to speak with students about what it’s like to work in their industries: what daily responsibilities they have, how to get involved, and the steps needed to pursue a similar career.
“We try to be pretty well-rounded,” said College and Career Counselor Erricka Clarke. “We’ll reach out to someone from the medical field, someone from the public sector, someone from trades, just trying to hit a number of different industries because we know our students are interested in a range of career paths.”
In addition to career-based organizations, there were booths such as tutoring services and summer camp programs, which shared possible internship and volunteering information. Several of these booths had on-the-spot sign-ups for future opportunities, with one booth, the Young Scholars Institute, even hosting a lottery wheel that guaranteed an internship opportunity for winners.
“I had to fill out a form with my basic info like my email or phone number, and I got to spin the lottery wheel. I didn’t get the internship, but I won a free 1 hour SAT/ACT class,” said senior Kiara Liu.
To further increase their outreach to AHS students, many booths distributed promotional items such as candy, stickers, highlighters, pens, tape measures, USB drives, and squishies. Some organizations even offered larger giveaways, including t-shirts and Hot Wheels cars. The booth that drew the most attention, however, was the Arcadia Fire Department, where students swarmed to grab plastic fire hats.
Arcadia Fire Department Captain Drew Pryor said the department attends the expo each year to encourage students to explore careers in fire service.
“We really like to recruit from our home base,” said Pryor. “We have a lot of Arcadia High School graduates who work for us, and that’s a real value the community brings to our department. Our hope in attending is that it sparks an ongoing interest and love for the fire service.”
Throughout the event, students walked around the CTE Gym, speaking with representatives and collecting stamps in their expo booklets. Those who completed their stamp booklet were entered into a raffle drawing. With engaging professional conversations and networking opportunities, the expo gave the students of AHS greater insight into their potential future paths.
“We actually had students reach out afterward asking for contact information,” said Clarke. “We still have flyers and resources in the Career Center, so students can come in and explore what was at the fair even now.”
“Not every school has the opportunity to host something like this,” said College and Career Office Assistant Tola Livesey. “Giving students direct access to professionals is incredibly valuable, and the positive feedback we received shows it’s something our school community truly appreciates.”
