Opportunities Fair

Opportunities fairs are commonly offered in downtown Pittsburgh, not high schools. However, Fox Chapel continues to defy expectations by hosting a yearly exhibition for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. A typical experience at a fair includes employers at booths giving information about their company to participants. At the high school, though, the booths included much more than just jobs. Volunteer organizations, branches of the military, trade schools, colleges, and universities were all represented.

The Opportunities Fair occurred on April 19th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in the main gymnasium. Instead of being filled with students playing anything from basketball to pickleball, the gym was jam packed with ninety seven different organizations. During each lunch, a new wave of students made their way to the event to explore all the booths they were interested in. No matter what path a student was interested in pursuing after high school, there was a group they could learn more from.

Most colleges, such as the University of Pittsburgh, Kent State University, and West Virginia University, were from Pennsylvania and nearby states. Some local colleges included Carnegie Mellon University and Point Park University. Representatives even came from states not bordering Pennsylvania such as Shenandoah University in Virginia and Southern Illinois University. The United States Military had five booths in total located in each corner of the gym. The Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marines all had their own tables and were constantly cycling through students looking to discover more. The Marines’ table was especially popular! Any

By Madeleine Stone

time you walked by the booth, you could see students performing plenty of pushups surrounded by encouraging onlookers.

Not only were students entertained during their visiting time, but they also only had positive things to say about the fair. Bridget Yun said, “There were so many colleges and a huge variety of booths. As a junior, it was really helpful for me to talk to the colleges there and ask about the opportunities that they provide for undergraduate students. It was also helpful that there were a lot of volunteer opportunities I could sign up for!” Another junior, Katie Haas, also found the fair to be beneficial, stating that the fair was, “an opportunity to connect with different career choices and get a better idea of what our future may hold.”

The day after the fair, students spent a few minutes during their QRT to fill out a form indicating what they thought of the event. Fox Chapel Area High School faculty member John Baxter explained the results of the form: “The feedback we received from the student reflection form was overwhelmingly positive with many of our students successfully securing interviews or jobs while others connected with one of our many other vendors.”

Once again, the Opportunities Fair was a massive success for students, faculty, and vendors. Students continue to reap the benefits of the event through their volunteering and job opportunities. Other students have a new college to add on to their list of schools to visit over the summer. Hopefully the turnout next year will be just as good or even better than this year!