Students explore college, career options

School was in session, in a manner of speaking, Tuesday evening as hundreds of students and their families learned more about the options available after high school.

The 46th annual Putnam County College & Career Fair took place inside Palatka Junior-Senior High School, where at least 70 education facilities and employers were represented.

The event was open to students of all four of the Putnam County School District’s junior-senior high schools, said Ashley McCool, the district’s director of community relations.

“We invite all seventh graders and up and their families,” she said. “We do provide transportation for the students in the south and west (ends of the county) who can’t get here on their own.”

Among the colleges and universities featured at the event were St. Johns River State College, the University of Florida, Florida A&M University and First Coast Technical College.

HCA Florida Putnam Hospital, VyStar Credit Union and Veritas Steel, among other businesses, were represented, as were local government offices and different branches of the military.

Renee Hough, who oversees the planning of the College & Career Fair, said the district realized five or six years ago the need to add the career aspect to the event.

Hough, the district’s director of career technical education, said the fair used to be only a college tour, which organizers outside of Putnam would plan.

The district would have to host the college fair on the date those organizers would choose, she said, but ever since the district added the career aspect, local officials have made the event their own.

“We reached out to our businesses, and all these colleges contacted us from the time we get our dates,” Hough said. “So we just made it bigger. It’s all about college and career readiness.”

Hough said the addition of the career aspect wasn’t done to simply make the fair a bigger event. Many students want to pursue options outside of going directly to a four-year college or university, she said.

Incorporating businesses and career technical facilities ensures students can be made aware of a wide array of options to pursue after high school, she said.

Hough recalled talking to a student and his parents earlier in Tuesday’s event, and while the student was interested in a welding career, the child’s parents weren’t as excited about that option.

The parents started to come around to the idea of the child getting his welding certification after learning more information at the College & Career Fair, Hough said, which shows the event is as much for family members as it is for students.

“He wants to do the career path, but his family wants him to do the college part,” she said. “The parents have to get comfortable with the career piece.”

Another student, Shawniya Sharon, wanted to learn more about college. The Palatka High 11th grader said she wants to be an obstetrician-gynecologist or get a business degree – or do both.

Sharon, who is part of Take Stock in Children, which provides mentors for its students and pays for a portion of their college, hopes to attend Santa Fe College in Gainesville before transferring to Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens.

“I just want to own something of my own,” Sharon said. “It’s not a lot of Black women business owners (in Putnam County). I want to be an OBGYN because it’s a blessing to deliver a child and brighten up (someone’s) day.”

Superintendent Rick Surrency said he enjoys seeing the College & Career Fair get bigger and better every year. A high point is seeing recruiters who are former school district students and have completed a career technical education program or gone to college and returned to work in Putnam County.

It’s a full-circle moment, he said, and a sign students thrive when they have numerous options.

“We’re now seeing graduates from our high schools recruiting current students,” Surrency said.