To aid students in making career decisions, leadership teacher Teresa Adams and assistant principal Monica Story are holding a career expo on Tuesday, March 24. The career expo will feature various businesses students can talk to about acquiring jobs or going to trade schools.

“Mrs. Story and I were actually having a conversation one day and I asked her if LHS had a career expo or a job fair and she said ‘No,’” Adams said. “I think it is important for students to have opportunities to get in front of businesses and to have a career.”

The career expo will take place in the B gym from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. When looking for businesses to attend the event, Adams and Story reached out to as many as they could. A minimum of 18 businesses will show up, offering students a plethora of options.

“We just researched,” Adams said. “Some of them I knew personally, but I just started going through and googling. I reached out to the [Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce] and [The Colony Chamber of Commerce] and they in turn sent out to their members [from the] chamber of commerce.”

The expo has AVID teacher Kristin Simpson excited to bring her students to the event. As AVID’s goal is to set up kids with opportunities after high school, the expo will give the class a chance to secure themselves paths after graduation outside of college.

“This is a great opportunity during the school day for them to have a chance to meet with the businesses, hand out their resumes, or maybe do an online application and ask them more questions about their business and their company and what else is available if they don’t have anything available right now,” Simpson said.

In order for the expo to happen, they presented it to principal Jeffery Kajs for approval. Kajs loved the idea of the expo because it will give students who can’t make times for interviews to be given the chance at not only job opportunities, but also acquiring skills and talents.

“I think it benefits the students by taking out the barriers [like] ‘Hey, I don’t have a way to get to this place for an interview [or] I don’t have time in my schedule to drive after school,’” Kajs said. “It’s just trying to take care of all those restrictions that make students feel they can’t get something done by doing it here at the school.”

Since this is the first time the expo is being held at the school, Adams and Story are hoping for a huge turnout. Depending on how it goes, they will make plans to turn this into an annual event. This opens up the opportunity for more companies and jobs to be offered in the following fairs. 

“It all depends on the students, if no one goes in there and no one engages with the businesses and doesn’t make it worth their while, then they probably won’t come back,” Adams said. “Hopefully the students will get in there and take advantage of [this]. What we’re really looking for is to get in there, make yourself present, talk to these people and be ready to fill out an application online and be ready to go to work.”