WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WLIO) — High school students in Auglaize County took on a very important mission: exploring career opportunities that could shape their future.
Mission Discovery brought 1,000 students to the Auglaize County Fairgrounds, where they interacted with 44 local companies to learn about the wide range of jobs available in their community. Whether it’s health care, construction trades, manufacturing, or other career fields, students participated in interactive activities designed to spark interest in potential futures.
Mission Discovery brought 1,000 students to the Auglaize County Fairgrounds, where they interacted with 44 local companies to learn about the wide range of jobs available in their community.
“Or maybe they already have an idea of what they want to do post high school, but they need to talk to another company to see what's all available to them. You think about a hospital setting. You think of only medical first, but it takes a whole cybersecurity team, a dietary, so we just wanted them to have an opportunity to explore whatever is available to," said Amy Freymuth, Auglaize County Workforce Administrator.
The event proved eye-opening for students learning about careers in Auglaize County.
“A lot of them talked about, like the police officers. They talked about the canines, different weapons, and just some of the stuff they do on a daily basis. And the military just talked about how they're different from when they're in the military, and when they're out in the military,” said Luke Topp, a sophomore at New Bremen High School.
“A few things I found interesting are the different careers in each like section. So in the army alone, you have all like the medical you have just basically so many different career options. Yeah, I think it's a great opportunity, because not everybody knows exactly what they're going into and it gives them a few options,” said Sophia Tangeman, a sophomore at New Bremen High School.
St. Marys Memorial DECA students also helped with Mission Discovery. Their hands-on involvement provided experience that will benefit them in the future.
“It just provided like a real life experience. For me, it gave me a couple different skills, like leadership and responsibilities and understanding how to actually plan something correctly, so then we don't really get mixed up in the future when we're at those jobs and we don't know how to execute our jobs perfectly,” said Mataya Patterson, a senior at St. Marys Memorial DECA.
“Everyone always feels like they need to move super far away, and that's what I was gonna do. I was gonna go to Florida for college, but I realized, like, there's so many jobs here that are local, that people just don't know about, and it's the same opportunities, but they're here, and it's better to support local than move far away to do the same job,” said Madison Albright, a senior at St. Marys Memorial DECA.
The goal of Mission Discovery is to show students the endless possibilities available in Auglaize County.
