Life after high school was on the minds of the more than 700 Eden Prairie High School students who attended the College and Career Expo in the school’s main gym on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The annual event is a collaborative effort between the district and the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, which invites its large network of member businesses to attend.
“It's a great collaboration for the Chamber to fulfill their purpose of bringing together and promoting local businesses, and it allows us to carry out our mission of inspiring each student and helping them find what inspires them,” said Ethan Dado, the district’s Pathways coordinator. “It's an amazing partnership where we both get to live out our missions.”
This year’s expo boasted a roster of 42 booths featuring local and national businesses, four-year universities, two-year colleges, and branches of the military. Sponsors included sporting goods store Scheels and residential disability care organization ACR Homes.
According to Dado, business partners were “amazed” by the teenaged Eagles they encountered at the event. “The students’ professionalism, the ways in which they were engaged and asking questions, and the curiosity they brought were huge wins for the businesses,” he said.
Students were encouraged to treat the expo like a professional might approach a career fair. Many took advantage of the opportunity to dress in their professional best and practice their interviewing, communication and networking skills.
Dado emphasized that the most fulfilling part for him was seeing and hearing students experience “aha” moments of discovering a new path or opportunity – indications to him that the goal of exposing students to a wide variety of college and career options had paid off. It also reminded him of the importance of this event for students’ growth on their Inspired Journey, the experience of discovery, exploration and pursuit each student has in Eden Prairie Schools.
“To me, the Inspired Journey is all about helping students find the ‘why’ of school and what they’re learning, and the College and Career Expo is a nice complement to that,” Dado explained. “It lets them discover careers available to them and explore how their interests match those careers and professions.”
On behalf of the district, Dado said he appreciated all of the businesses and professionals who took the time to connect with our students at the expo, as well as the Chamber of Commerce for their partnership in making it a success. He looks forward to watching the professional connections made at the expo take flight this year!
