Each year, Whitehall High School students take part in a career fair to help them get an idea of what they may want to do in the future. Taking into account the current COVID-19 pandemic, the school partnered with Catasauqua High School and Whitehall Area Rotary Club to offer a joint virtual career expo, which was held March 24.

According to WHS counselor Chad Stefanyak, Laura Long, of Whitehall Area Rotary Club, connected him with Ashley Schmidt, Catasauqua Area School District career facilitator, who is also a WHS graduate.

“It was an easy decision to collaborate as it increased the number of businesses and contacts our students would be exposed to and hopefully made our event more attractive to those places of employment,” Stefanyak said. “We understand they are taking time away from their jobs to meet with us, and now they could connect with students from two districts in one sitting.”

“With all the many challenges of COVID-19, this is an incredible way two school districts are working together to help their students,” Long said.

Students took part in 25-minute discussions with small panels of business professionals from across the Lehigh Valley.

“This is the first event of its kind,” according to a letter sent to students. “It will be a short, fast-paced event designed to introduce you to several of the many careers available to you after graduation.”

The traditional career expo has students walking around the gymnasium and stopping to talk with local business professionals. The virtual expo featured four sessions, during which students spoke with the business professionals. There were teacher moderators in each session to help guide the conversation if needed.

Before the expo, students chose three career clusters that are of the greatest interest to them. A fourth option was chosen for the student, “with the hopes of introducing them to a new potential career that may not have been previously considered,” according to the letter.

Students got to choose from architecture and construction; arts, technology and communication; business; education; government; health sciences; hospitality; law and public safety; STEM; and the armed forces.

“In addition to exposure to possible future employers, we hope this opportunity helps you to link your talents, interests and current academic studies to these career pathways,” the letter stated.

According to Stefanyak, the initial idea was to have students sign up for virtual question-and-answer sessions with the businesses, but Schmidt had the idea of the students choosing the career clusters. This allows businesses to provide examples of different jobs and careers within their industry.

Stefanyak noted they had some reservations, but, with the help of Dave Stauffer, Whitehall-Coplay School District K-12 instructional technology specialist, excitement increased to offer the expo virtually.

“It allows our students and the businesses to interact in a modern format,” Stefanyak said. “The pandemic pushed us in this direction, so we embraced it.”

Stefanyak reported he would miss the face-to-face interactions.

“It was an opportunity for our students to put the phones down and work on those soft skills by introducing themselves to a potential employer and making a strong first impression,” he said.

The career expo committee includes Long; John Orsini, Whitehall Area Rotary Club; Amy Shoup and Stefanyak, WHS counselors; Adam Schnug, CHS principal; and Schmidt.

Stefanyak reported he wants local businesses to know they are always looking to expand the event and to include any business willing to help the students understand the difference between a job and a career. He noted the students have shown they know how to secure part-time jobs.

“This is a chance for the students to connect what they are learning in the classroom with their particular interests and talents and to find a way to turn that into a living,” Stefanyak said.

The event was deemed a success by many of the students who took part.

“I just wanted to say that overall this was a great experience for me because it helped me look into more career paths and what interests me,” one of the student participants said. “I would definitely like to have another career expo experience with maybe some other career pathways as well.”

“I think that we should do two of these per school year, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end,” another student suggested. “I believe it could be beneficial for students who are not sure what career they want to pursue and for students [who] change their minds over the course of the year.”

“I really enjoyed listening to the Army meet I was in today,” a student reflected. “It helped me think about my future career field.”

“I found this event very informative about different career fields that are out there and what each of those career fields entail,” another student said, “such as, what schooling is needed, personality traits and day-to-day life in the career.”