Grundy Area Vocational Center to host 1,300 students for 8th Grade Career Fair

Nearly 1,300 students will descend upon the rec center at Morris Community High School on Tuesday, Oct. 29 for the annual Grundy Area Vocational Center 8th Grade Career Fair.

Dean of Students Trevor Sampson said the event provides junior high students the opportunity to check out careers long before they truly have to decide, and it’ll give them some things to think about heading into their sophomore years of high school. That’s typically the year the Grundy Area Vocational Center feeder schools like Morris, Coal City, Minooka and Gardner-South Wilmington high schools go on a tour to see what programs they might be interested in.

Sampson said the career fair has booths for all the programs at the Grundy Area Vocational Center like the nursing, agriculture, trades, law enforcement, automotive and fire science programs, and then there will be booths for local businesses to show off their industries.

“We work with the Community Foundation of Grundy County,” Sampson said. “They handle a lot of the business side and we work to expand year after year. We had a strong presence from some industries already, but last year, for example, we had the eye care and dental industries attend the career fair and it worked out well. We’re always looking to expand, get a little bit of everything.”

There are currently 54 booths planned, 43 of which will be of local businesses. The other 11 represent the Grundy Area Vocational Center’s programs. The deadline to sign up for businesses isn’t until Friday, Oct. 11, so there could be more by the time the event rolls around.

“We introduce a wide array of opportunities to the eighth graders, and we see them again when they’re sophomores,” Sampson said. “When they’re sophomores, it’s specific to our programs and pathways that our programs can lead them to.”

Sampson said the Grundy Area Vocational Center shares materials with the schools and the schools are allowed to create their own to ensure the students get the most out of the career fair. Students will have to ask business and program booths about their industry to give them something to help them down the road.

To sign up, visit https://tinyurl.com/2cx99av7.