Last month George County High School CTE department hosted the annual Career Explosion giving their students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with local opportunities. 

   Put together by counselor Barbara Thompson and staff, the Career Explosion was an assembly where Mississippi businesses and colleges came to the high school. The businesses talked to students about different career pathways, and the colleges discussed different opportunities including majors and minors available. 

    ¨The purpose was to introduce our students to the business industry leaders and expose them to some career options,¨ Thompson said. 

    The businesses are all local to Mississippi and were chosen from GCHS career academies. Many of the 26 businesses that showed up were also present in previous years, everyone who was supposed to come were there.

   ¨So we tried to do a variety through our career academies and people that came in the past while adding new businesses and military recruiters,¨ Thompson said. 

   During  the assembly, students were able to receive free gifts advertising the different colleges and businesses.  Local businesses donated door prizes that were given away to chosen students. The gifts and door prizes were beneficial because they encouraged students to visit the different booths.

    Throughout the assembly there were many door prizes given out to various students including Freshman Lana Brekeen. 

    ¨I won free snacks and candy from the draw and that made the entire experience better without the prizes. I’m not sure if I would have gone to some of the booths that I ended up finding interesting,¨ Brekeen said. 

    Although some of the students went to the career explosion because they had to or for the free prizes and gifts, many were seeking information on what their future after high school and/or college could hold. They were also trying to figure out which local colleges would be beneficial to the career they want to take part in.  

   Sophomore Zach Johnson says that he had a really enjoyable experience with his friends and the local business leaders. He did not win a door prize but received free advertisement gifts; however, this was not his reasoning for going. 

¨ I talked to many of the hands-on career people such as Chevron and the military recruiters; this was helpful because I cannot decide what I want to do after high school,¨ Johnson said.

   Junior Bryson Schultz is almost done with high school and is running out of time before he decides which direction he wants his future to go in. According to Schultz, he learned that there were a lot of career pathways he could potentially go into. 

   ´´ My favorite booth was Jones College. They talked about future majors I could get through their program,¨ Schultz said.

   No matter the reason for going, the Career Explosion was a success for the high school. Majority of the students enjoyed their experience and learned something. The high school managed to make the assembly fun while also being educational.