HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Lauren Storm with the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce works on retention and expansion of existing businesses in the community. An important piece of that is making sure the next generation of the workforce knows there are jobs they would like here where they live. That's where the CareerQuest program can help.
"Career Quest started in 2021, when two separate sixth grade teachers approached us at the chamber asking for career exploration opportunities for their students," Storm said. "Out of that Career Quest was born. The first pilot program involved McCandless at the time and Wiley Elementary, where about 80 students were connected with industry tours, where they explored different industry sectors. When I came on board in 2022, my task was to expand the program countywide. So we extended this opportunity to over 650 Reno County sixth grade students. And out of that, we developed what we now coin as mega tour days, where all it's multi district where all the students explore different industry sectors, including education, healthcare, agribusiness and public services."
The first of those days is coming up soon.
"The first one coming up is October 22nd and 24th, that students will get to tour Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy, which is available to all Reno County high school students, even though it's part of the 308 Hutch High system, and Hutchinson Community College fire science," Storm said. "We really like to start the year with the education day piece so that they can understand the value that our education systems right here in Hutchinson offer to the county, and how they can prepare for their careers early on and start exploring what their skill set might lend them to."
The individual classes can ask for additional help, if they want it.
"All of the students will go to each one of the mega days," Storm said. "Then schools get to decide if they would like to sign up for an on-site business tour, and that those are more tailored to the availability of the school, the businesses involved, and hopefully if we have an indication, if there's a concentration of interest that we can match those students up with corresponding industry that they would best be paired with."
If you have further questions, contact Storm at (620) 662-3391.
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