The Delaware Area Career Center held its annual Career Exploration Day last week in which students were given a chance to hear about a variety of careers and opportunities.
Lisa-Marie Reinhart, the DACC’s career readiness coordinator, said the school has been holding the event for over a decade, but the format had to be changed this year due to the pandemic.
“This is traditionally a day when our students are off-campus visiting business and industry sites for a job shadowing or career exploration experience,” Reinhart said. “As a result of the COVID pandemic, DACC pivoted to an all virtual experience for students this year.”
This year’s virtual event featured more than 20 sessions that students could view and participate in. Reinhart said the sessions, which included topics such as college preparation, leadership skills and communication skills, were selected by the DACC.
“A building leadership team comprised of administration, teachers, and staff began brainstorming topics and potential speakers,” she said. “We looked to our current network of DACC partners in the local business community, government agencies, higher education, and DACC alumni as potential speakers. We really considered what these community partners could share with our DACC students.”
Reinhart said the team wanted to focus on topics that would have practical uses for all DACC programs.
“The planning team focused on relevant topics that were not specific to a particular DACC program, but were more appropriate for college and career readiness and also captured the interest of students,” Reinhart said. “We were excited to offer sessions on topics such as ‘Taking a Gap Year’ or ‘Leveraging Your Career with LinkedIn.’ These topics may not be addressed at any other point in a school class, but given the opportunity, students could glean some valuable insights.”
Full-day students attended four sessions as well as a session with representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and National Guard over lunch on March 5. Half-day students attended two sessions.
Reinhart said students had to complete an assignment after Career Exploration Day and were allowed to complete the assignment in a variety of ways, including writing a paper, recording a video, or designing a slideshow.
“As a planning team, we hoped for a value-added day for our students,” Reinhart said. “As a moderator, I was impressed by the level of engagement and questions that our DACC students shared during the sessions.”
All of the presentations are available to stream on the YourFuture DACC YouTube page located at youtube.com/c/YourFutureDACC.
