Career Taste Test
A thousand teens engage in career-focused activities.
“This is awesome!” And, “I want to do that!” Were statements from middle school students exploring career fields at Erie 1 BOCES this week.
The "Taste of Tech" tour, which occurred at three different Erie 1 BOCES career centers, included hands-on activities led by high school students embarking on their own career paths. More than 1,000 teens across Erie County participated in this two-day event.
“The best part about today was seeing how excited they were,” said Frontier High School senior Shannon Smith. A volunteer student ambassador, Shannon provided tours to the visiting youth at the Potter Career & Technical Center in West Seneca.
“I’m in the Animal Science program and I loved hearing about who wanted to take the class,” Shannon added.
Middle schoolers had the opportunity to rotate through several career education programs. Each program provided visitors with a safe hands-on activity or demonstration.
In Health Careers, youth tested their hand-washing skills with a blacklight activity, they tried on medical masks and gowns, and learned how to properly remove soiled gloves. In Electrical, instructors taught students how to strip a wire. Culinary made fresh pasta. The Welding and Plumbing programs turned up the heat with different soldering activities.
As part of the public education, during the normal school day, Erie 1 BOCES offers more than 30 career and technical programs to high school students in Erie County. High school students interested in learning more about how they can participate in various programs such as building trades, Web technologies and game programming, aviation and health careers should visit www.e1b.org/cte.org or speak with their high school counselor.