New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
New Bedford High School will host a career fair on January 5, 2016, the culmination of a series of career lessons at NBHS for freshmen students throughout the month of December.
The career fair will run from 7:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Blue House Cafeteria at NBHS, 230 Hathaway Boulevard.
Under New Bedford High’s National Academy Foundation (NAF) model, Grade 9 students participate in an exploratory period with all five NBHS academies: Engineering; Health Sciences; Finance; Information Technology; and Arts & Humanities.
With academy advisory board members, Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts and the Connecting Activities Partnership of Bristol Community College, the Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board, Inc., and New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, sponsored the month of career lessons and the career fair.
Over the past two weeks, 16 volunteers have taught courses for NBHS freshmen focusing on concepts including resume-building and interview skills and career clusters, building deep, lasting context for students beyond the typical one-day career fair.
“This experience has given our freshmen the benefit of delving deep into a variety of potential careers, so they can get a close look at what the future holds for them, as we focus on preparing all students for college and careers,” said Headmaster Bernadette Coelho.
Freshmen will talk firsthand with representatives from across the industry spectrum in SouthCoast Massachusetts, touching on all five academy offerings for NBHS students. In sophomore year, students select a major after taking a range of courses from across the academies.
“We are incredibly grateful to the volunteers who took the time to present these workforce preparedness concepts to the students, which will ultimately be essential to their career development,” said Caroline Paradis, President of Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts. “Not only have the sessions enhanced the students’ overall career fair experience by giving them context, but they’ve also provided interaction with business professionals who have offered career advice and shown that they care about the students’ well-being.”
“This event is a great example of our community collaborating and working together to help our local students make a more informed choice about their career pathway,” said New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce Manager of Workforce & Business Development Ian Abreu. “The reality is that there are plenty of great employment opportunities available throughout Greater New Bedford across the board in many priority industries. It is our job as a workforce and educational partnership to help highlight all of the career possibilities that our local employers have all while providing a legitimate, sustainable ‘college and career’ pathway for each student.”
