Students at Newton High School got a jump start on their post-grad plans Wednesday filling out college applications, learning about banking and learning about local industries as the school held its first college and career fair in the gymnasium.
Principal Shernice Wilson said Wednesday’s fair, which brought more than two dozen industries, colleges and financial services to the school, was requested and organized by the Newton High School Future Business Leaders of America Club.
“The kids got with our librarian and they wanted to do a college and career fair to expose our kids to the information that is out there and the opportunities out there,” she said. “So, that’s how this came about. This is actually our first college and career fair that we’ve had here.”
Wilson said the FBLA members wanted to provide opportunities for both students looking at college and students looking to go straight into the workforce after graduation. With that in mind, she said, the college and career fair featured booths from colleges such as Alcorn, Southern Miss, University of Mississippi and Delta State University, as well as industries like WEIR/ESCO, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the military.
“We didn’t just want to target the colleges,” she said. “We wanted the technical side as well. We wanted the kids to know about the opportunities in terms of the workforce if they don’t want to go to college.”
Wilson said the FBLA members did a fantastic job planning and organizing the fair, and Newton High School is very proud of them.
