PEORIA, Ill. – Most 8th graders are uncertain of what their futures would look like. But an event at the Peoria Civic Center aims to help give them options for what their career could be.
The 7th Greater Peoria Career Spark took place Thursday and Friday in the Civic Center’s Exhibit Hall. The event features a wide variety of businesses and organizations providing hands-on displays for the jobs they do everyday, to let 8th graders try it out and see what they liked.
Around 4,000 8th graders from 65 different schools in central Illinois participated in the event. They were each given a half hour to explore as many jobs as they could in one of four sections, before moving on to the next one.
The event was not a typical job fair, says Greater Peoria Economic Development Council CEO Chris Setti. He says companies in similar fields came together to showcase their careers.
“It’s kind of company agnostic,” Setti said. “Because they all recognize that this is what needs to happen. We’re just trying to expose younger people to the options that they will have when they get out of high school or when they get out of college.”
Some of the jobs the students were able to explore and try out included court stenography, news reporting, surgery on mannequins, and even helping with the birth of a calf.
Joel Steger is the Career and Community Liaison for Pekin Community High School and organized the event’s manufacturing section. He says the hands-on aspect of the event goes a long way.
“The goal here is to get kids to find something they’re going to identify with and think about. So, if it’s not going to be hands-on and engaging they’re not really going to think much about it. They’re not going to remember it,” Steger said.
Steger says the collaboration between businesses and organizations showing off their careers can also be a way to try and encourage kids to stay home and take local jobs.
Students were also given a workbook prior to the event to take notes and reflect on what they learned in-person.
