Yuma Union High School District’s mission is for students to graduate from one of the district’s seven schools college, career, and community prepared. For the third consecutive year, all students got a head start on their futures by taking part in a weeklong event geared towards learning about college, career, military and community opportunities.
All seven schools hosted 30-minute mini-events this week from Tuesday, November 14 through Thursday, November 16 on the Canvas Learning Management System.
"The College, Career, Community, and Military fair is a great opportunity for our students to have hands-on experience of different pathways and preparation while in high school,” Somerton High School counselor Maria Dillard said. “Some students were building their resumes and downloading it, ready to use it for a part time job. This gives me joy to know that they are already effectively planning to use it."
Each day’s content had a unique focus, with lessons planned during their third-period class to give students insight into available opportunities. Content was curated by a team of community partners and YUHSD counselors and the district’s teaching and learning team.
“The CCCM fair gave students the opportunity to explore career options,” San Luis High School counselor Elva Lozano said. “We provided students in-person interactions during lunches to gain a different perspective of what is available in our community. This tied both into the major clarity aspect and helped make it relevant for our students.”
For nearly a decade, YUHSD schools have hosted some form of the College, Career, Community and Military Fair. Beginning with in-person events during the 2010s, the event became digital-only in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as students returned to in-person learning the following year, the district transitioned the event to be a hybrid of in-person and online with some schools hosting in-person events with outside agencies as a supplement.
In the more traditional events, which were held on campuses on a rotational basis from year-to-year, approximately 500 individuals would on average be in attendance. By hosting the event during the school day on Canvas, more than 11,000 students have the opportunity to participate with the content remaining online throughout the school year, so students can return to it.
“I'm interested in the military so this was helpful because it was the first time I interacted with information about the military,” SLHS junior Gael Cota Flores said. “They also give us a little bit of information about what they do and what we can do to get into the military.”
Somerton freshman Alberto Gonzalez added: “When I was a kid, I wanted to join the Navy, because it was based on water, and I like swimming, and so when I was reviewing the Career Exploration my fit scores were a little low in that area. But I was able to explore the different branches on Military day. Seeing the first-hand experience from other people in the field, it helped me visualize, if I ever join the Navy, I will know what I will go into. I feel it will benefit me in two ways: 1. How it looks and 2. I have a different view of what a Navy career looks like."
