More than 800 eighth-grade students from the Clarke County School District attended the Wonders of Work Futures Fair at Athens Technical College on March 6. The event, organized in partnership with Athens Tech and the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, provided students with hands-on experiences to explore potential career paths after high school or further education.
The fair aimed to help students understand various academic and technical opportunities available locally. Students interacted with professionals from fields such as health care, veterinary medicine, culinary arts, engineering technology, and more. Several University of Georgia schools and colleges also participated to showcase their programs and related careers.
Jennifer Scott, interim superintendent of Clarke County School District, said: “The Wonders of Work Futures Fair has been a dream of ours for several years, so to see it come together for our eighth graders was literally a dream come true. It was an exciting day that allowed our students to experience potential career pathways and think ahead about their high school journey. Most importantly, this event demonstrates what happens when we work together as a community. We appreciate our incredible partners in education and business as well as the sponsors, volunteers and other supporters who made this day happen. We are truly better together.”
University of Georgia faculty members used interactive exhibits to highlight lesser-known careers such as veterinary technicians. Olivia Williams, director of nursing for UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said: “This is the first time that we have been out to promote vet techs as a career. The students at this event have been so engaged and so excited. Many of them didn’t know what a vet tech was, and we were able to talk about it with them.”
Jason Payton from UGA’s School of Medicine joined Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership students at the fair to discuss medical education options in Athens. Payton said: “Events like Wonders of Work are powerful because they introduce students to the wide range of careers that help communities function and grow, including the many roles that make health care possible… WOW offered an incredible opportunity to help students imagine prosperous futures while supporting the efforts of community and industry partners in the shared effort to strengthen Georgia’s future health care workforce.”
Alvie Coes, chief workforce officer for Athens Achieves added: “The first Annual WOW Futures Fair was a tremendous success that really exemplified the Athens Achieves mission to unite business, education and local government to enhance Athens’ strong workforce pipeline… It was really exciting to see more than 50 local employers connect with hundreds of eighth graders and talk about the possibilities of careers in advanced manufacturing, hospitality, health care, skilled trades and more.”
