Students were invited based on their aptitudes and interests identified by the YouScience results, which is an career aptitude assessment. Within that, students in middle and high school completed several brain games that helped provide information on their skill sets, strengths, weaknesses, career paths and more.
Students with different aptitudes and interests will be invited to different upcoming Discovery Days as the first one focused on careers in information technology, business, finance, marketing and real estate.
Building a career right here at home
Local businesses and other institutions — including the Small Business Development Center, Sunshine Book Nook, Howard Hanna, Sheehan Brothers, ProStratus, Night Dispatch, Big Fish Local, Clark Schaefer Hackett, Richwood Bank, U.S. Army, Edward Jones and Clark State College — showed students how those types of careers are achievable in the Springfield region.
Students rotated through interactive activities with those organizations to learn more about those fields.
The day was “all hands on about them, learning different things about each industry and how that connects to their own aptitude and interest for further education and what they want to do after high school,” Tyler said.
The participating schools included Springfield High School, School of Innovation, Emmanuel Christian Academy, Global Impact STEM Academy, Northwestern, Greenon, Graham, Urbana, Mechanicsburg, Triad and West Liberty.
The goal of the Discovery Days is to help high school juniors in Clark County, along with juniors and seniors in Champaign County, decide what they want to do after they graduate, Tyler said, whether that’s going to college, entering the workforce or joining the military.
“Within that, what does that look like? Do I need to go further? Can I get on with somebody directly right now? Do I need to go get a certificate? That’s why we’re picking that junior age group,” she said.
Practicing entrepreneurship
The day also featured a Shark Tank-style competition where students pitched creative solutions and put their skills into action.
The challenge was how to build a business in the digital age. Teams were hired to help a local entrepreneur launch a new tech-based product or service to the community and had to create a pitch that shows how the business would succeed. In their pitches, they had to include a business overview, technology plan, marketing strategy, real estate strategy, budget snapshot and employer support.
“We believe this event highlights the strong partnerships between schools, employers and community organizations that are helping prepare our future workforce,” Tyler said.
If students attend the Discovery Day but want to attend a future one, based off if it aligns with the YouScience results, they are able to do that and the schools help facilitate that.
The other Discovery Days include health care in November; manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and distribution in December; and public safety and military in March.
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