The annual Power Up Your Future Career and College Day is set for Feb. 27 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Western Carolina Fairgrounds at 561 May Royal Drive in Aiken.
This event is specifically for eighth-grade students in Aiken County schools. With the event happening during a regular school day, transportation will be provided to get students from their school to the fairgrounds.
“It’s really just an opportunity for our students to start exploring opportunities in different careers and tying that into local college opportunities as well,” Sharon Worley, Coordinator for the school district’s Counseling and Career Services, said. “The thought behind it was to have one big event, instead of each middle school hosting separate career events, which can be kind of taxing on our business and college partners to attend all of those.”
Organizers are also calling for businesses and industries to participate in the event by setting up a table with information and, if possible, an interactive display.
“Our middle school students really respond well to opportunities to be engaged in an activity or have an interactive display. We’re hoping our business partners can provide that type of experience for our middle school students. It can be a little hard for them to just get a handout or kind of basic information. We would really love to see them have an opportunity to do some hands-on exploration of different careers,” said Worley.
An announcement about the event, calling for businesses to participate, was included in a recent newsletter from the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce.
Terra Carroll, President and CEO of the Chamber, told ABD that supporting this event plays into the mission of the Chamber to foster workforce development, creating a strong workforce.
“In supporting this, the businesses are able to go out and meet, see what type of students we have in the community, and help us understand what more we need to do to prepare them for the jobs that they have within their businesses, as well as expose these students to the opportunities in this community, because many of them don’t know what businesses are here, what type of careers are there, and whether they fit in or not,” she said.
Carroll said events such as Power Up can help younger students who are just beginning to think about their future, be it a four-year college degree, technical school, or the military. It also shows them what positions are available within a given business.
“For instance, a lot of students will think in order to work at a hospital, I have to be a doctor or a nurse. That’s not the case. You can be in IT. You can be in finance,” she explained. “So many different careers within a business that a lot of these students aren’t aware of. So, by being exposed to these businesses at this type of event, it helps students say, ‘Oh, I could work there.’”
The event is a partnership among the Aiken County School District, the Aiken County Career and Technology Center, and the SC Dept. of Employment and Workforce.
Similar events are traditionally targeting rising juniors and seniors, but Worley said eighth grade can be a critical time for students to begin thinking about future careers. It is also the time for students to learn what their career goal requires for post-secondary education.
“Students really start thinking about what they like, what they don’t like, what their strengths are,” Worley explained for ABD. “We want to just expose them to as many opportunities as we can for them to start thinking, because once they get to high school, they’re really able to take a lot of classes that will help get them on the path that aligns with their goals.”
Students in Aiken County have multiple ways to prepare for a career, including USC-A, Aiken Technical College, and the district’s dedicated Career and Technology Center.
“We want our students to be able to see they can start building those employability skills now, building those technical skills now within our programs that we have at the high school level, so that when they graduate from high school, our goal is for them to have a credential above and beyond the high school diploma,” said Worley.
Businesses interested in participating can apply at
