We’d like to turn the microphone over to Haley McCoy, a student from Colton High School. She wrote to tell us how much she liked the exhibits at this week’s NW Youth Careers Expo.
Thank you, she said, “for putting so much effort into make the career expo not only fun, but an educational experience that has really helped me in deciding what to do with my future.”
More than 6,000 students from 70+ high schools visited the Oregon Convention Center on Wednesday, Feb. 24, for our 12th annual Expo. We’re especially grateful to the many employers and volunteers who participated, filling 160 booths and packing the hall with hands-on demonstrations.
“This is our first year attending and are blown away at the variety of businesses as well as the organization of the mock interviews,” wrote Liz Marvin, the Project College Bound Coordinator for the Hermiston School District. “Thank you for putting on such a quality event.”
We’ll add more photos of our exhibitors and mock interviews over the next week. (About 1,700 students did mock interviews at this year’s Expo, thanks to a heroic volunteer recruiting effort led by our partners at the Portland HR Management Association.)
Meanwhile, we encourage you to watch this “thank you” video created by Benson High student Anthony Bussey. It was shown at this week’s PWA Breakfast, where about 500 people gathered to celebrate community-based career education and hear four terrific speakers.
OK, back to Haley, the Colton High School student. She concluded her letter by saying, “I hope you keep doing the Expo for a long time so other kids can get the same knowledge and experience I did.” (We couldn’t agree more.)
Thanks again for your volunteer hours, financial support and advocacy. You’re making a difference!
Expo and Breakfast highlights
- The Oregonian: NW Youth Careers Expo (photo gallery)
- PWA: Students say thanks (student-made video)
- Portland Public Schools: PPS at the Expo (district feature)
- PWA: Our blog and homepage
- Facebook: PWA Breakfast (photo gallery)
- Facebook: NW Youth Careers Expo (photo gallery)
