The school bell rings and seconds later, the Mexico High School gymnasium is flooded with junior and senior bulldogs ready to visit with Mexico’s many employers.
Mexico High School, …
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The school bell rings and seconds later, the Mexico High School gymnasium is flooded with junior and senior bulldogs ready to visit with Mexico’s many employers.
Mexico High School, in partnership with the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce, has hosted Find Your Path: Career Exploration Day for all students since 2016. Through the years, the program has grown exponentially.
“It started off with just local employers but now we're including state jobs and different career paths,” says Rebecca Moppin who put this all together.
Moppin is the college and workforce development community outreach and scholarship coordinator at MHS. Basically, she sees the students through high school and into their adult lives whether they choose to go to college, join the military, or go straight into the workforce.
“Community outreach is working on any barriers that students are going to have that keeps them from moving forward towards their future story,” says Moppin.
This program is a special opportunity for students and MHS is currently one of the only schools in the area with access to this program.
“Very few times will you see this many employers or organizations from your community in one spot so instead of having to get out there and beat the pavement trying to find a job or potential career field, go ahead and take advantage of this now,” Moppin urges.
One of the high school’s biggest booths drawing a crowd year after year is True Manufacturing. This year, they set up a cornhole game, allowing students the opportunity to win company swag and 3-D printed Mexico Bulldog keychains.
“We are very publicly engaged. We do a lot with the school district and we have a big partnership with them,” says Supervisor Scott Nichols.
This is Nichols’ fourth year at MHS and they had quite the set up. At their booth were two engineers, one overseeing a robotic arm and the other behind a 3-D printer, to tell students about the jobs beyond the warehouse True offers.
“This is kind of our heart and soul right here. Our community involvement, getting the kids involved, is a huge part of it,” says Nichols. “This is our future and it’s pretty cool.”
The goal is getting students ready for their future, whatever that may be. As a result, Moppin is also getting ready to go through training to implement a registered youth apprenticeship program for students.
“This is going to give students the opportunity to get into the career field that they’re interested in,” Moppin explains. “They go in as an employee and they work on getting an apprenticeship which is about 2,000 hours and when they're done, they leave with industry credits that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor.”