Students learn soft skills and find jobs at Career and Transition Expo
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - More than 500 students from high schools and career centers across Belmont, Harrison, and Noble counties attended the Belmont-Harrison Career and Transition Expo on Wednesday at the ECO Center to explore their options on jobs, schooling and how to market themselves.
Gloria Llewellyn, the superintendent and CEO of the Belmont, Harrison, and Noble County Boards of Developmental Disabilities, said the third-annual event was a collaboration between the the Belmont-Harrison Multi-Agency Planning Group, Belmont and Harrison County Boards of Developmental Disabilities, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, Ohio Employment First, Belmont County Juvenile Court, Belmont Career Center, and Goodwill Industries.
That the event has grown from a collaboration of Belmont and Harrison counties but initially began with just Belmont County, she said.
"We added Harrison [County] last year, and then it’s gotten bigger from a Harrison perspective," Llewellyn said. "Then this year we invited Noble [County.] I oversee those three counties as the superintendent, and a lot of the collaborative partners also oversee those different counties. So we’re just starting to collaborate more together."
She said that the event helps to prepare students to move on after high school and to decide what they want to do in the future.
"Do they want to go to college, university, trade school, or enter the job market? So we try to provide all opportunities for kids to see what the options are," Llewellyn said. "Along with vendors who are here to help connect with them, even if someone needed other types of services, banking services help with creating a savings account, a checking account or even mental health providers. There are a lot of services and support that are available."
She added that 53 vendors were at the ECO Center on Wednesday.
All of the school districts and the career centers from Belmont County were in attendance as well as the Harrison Career Center, Harrison Hills, and Caldwell Schools.
Llewellyn said the event is geared towards high school students with disabilities.
"This event is specifically for students with disabilities, and we have disability services,” she said. “Even the disability services from the colleges are here, so that if anyone needs accommodation or any type of accessibility needs, they can talk with someone so that those needs can be met.
"We want to really support our young students in learning what opportunities are available in our community and across Ohio,” she added. “Ohio State University, Ohio University, Muskingum College, they were all here to show services."
She added that the organizations came together because they want students to be thriving community members.
"We want them to be the best possible people they can, and we also want them to be able to be tax-paying citizens," Llewellyn said.
The event has grown each year and Llewellyn hopes it continues to do so.
"Our partners have grown. I think that we’re seeing more students. We’ve seen some repeat students, maybe they started as a freshman and now they’re a junior or a senior," Llewellyn said. "We’ve seen a change in our vendors. I think they’re great quality vendors. They provide a wealth of opportunities for students to be able to connect into what’s available in adulthood. It’s just been an amazing experience."
Sean Ragsdale, a vocational rehabilitation counselor with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, also hopes that the event keeps growing. He said that the expo had two mobile units in addition to the vendors inside of the ECO Center — the Ohio 4-H mobile unit and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency mobile unit.
The 4-H mobile unit informed the students about various careers that use science, technology, and math.
"The kids were able to board the mobile unit and try things out hands-on," Ragsdale said.
The OOD mobile unit performed mock interviews with the students.
"That gives the students an opportunity to see what it’s like to sit down in front of an employer and talk about themselves. Try to sell themselves to a potential employer in order to get a job," Ragsdale said. "These are soft skills that when you stack them all up, are what will help our students to get employment at the end of the day."