On Wednesday, the Delaware Area Career Center hosted a Career Connect event that brought educators and businesses together to discuss how best to prepare students for their careers.

The event featured a variety of panels and speakers from businesses and organizations across central Ohio, including The Ohio State University, the City of Delaware, OhioHealth, Columbus State, the Columbus Fire Department and Worthington Industries.

Tammy Hall, director of Secondary Operations at the DACC, said Wednesday afternoon the event was all about helping educators get an idea what the job market will look like for their students.

“We want to help educate teachers, counselors, and administrators about what the changing world of work looks like,” Hall said. “(It’s about) helping them realize what the businesses of central Ohio need and what opportunities they offer. (Educators learn about) where gaps are and how we can help get students to fill those gaps in business and industry.”

The event was organized by BridgED, who partnered with the DACC earlier this year to connect the career center and businesses in the community.

Chris Svec, one of the co-founders of BridgED, said Wednesday the event was designed to align with in-demand career clusters in Ohio.

“It’s basically to show teachers career pathways for students,” Svec said. “The teachers are going to hear about career pathways and what are the high demand jobs of today and also tomorrow. Any time we can put out an event to start to educate our educators on the front lines with these students to show them pathways for their future, I think it’s extremely valuable and important.”

Christy Bertolo, a co-founder of BridgED, said central Ohio has many opportunities for local students.

“(We want educators to get) more of an awareness of the amount of opportunities for students and the diversity of career options,” Bertolo said. “I think we’re really fortunate in central Ohio to have such diverse industries. It makes our region so unique. You can really find everything here. Companies are committed to the communities they are a part of and are excited about bringing that awareness and those jobs and keeping them here in central Ohio.”

Hall added, “It’s always really energizing to see business and industry give up their time of their day to come and work with educators to help them understand what their needs are. School has been out for a couple of weeks, and we have rooms full of teachers and counselors coming back to learn. That’s really energizing to see.”

High school or middle school teachers from every school district in the county attended the event, Hall said, adding it was a valuable learning experience.

“(They’re) all looking at it from a different perspective and being able to talk and learn from each other,” she said. “I hope they leave with at least a few nuggets of how they can help their individual students … to be able to tell the story of what our businesses in central Ohio are in need of in their workers. They talk about specific skills and also talk about teamwork and communication and all those other skills it’s important for our students to hear about.”

Hall said the event also gives educators more exposure to different jobs and careers that they can tell their students about.

“The younger we can start talking to students about career options, the more doors that are open to them,” Hall said. “When you are young and only see certain positions, then those are the ones you see yourself in. The earlier we can expose them to all the different options, the more doors we open for them.”

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.