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Ozark Technical Community College Career Day is an annual event at Fair Grove high school that the sophomore class gets to experience, courtesy of O.T.C. and the administration at Fair Grove.
The Fair Grove sophomore class has been going to O.T.C. career day for over eight years. Fair Grove Guidance Counselor Tonya Peck stated, “O.T.C. started this day to allow participating high schools the chance to show their students what they have to offer. Our administration has always been supportive of allowing our students the opportunity to see what options are available to them during and after their high school career.”
The sophomore class got taken to O.T.C. along with six Fair Grove teachers and staff during the first hour of the school day. The class stayed at O.T.C. ‘s campus until lunch time, then after lunch they were taken back to the school to finish out the school day. Mrs. Peck said, “This trip has allowed many of our students to see what amazing opportunities are just down the road from us. We have had students with zero interest come back from this trip and enroll in the Career Center Program,” Mrs. Peck said.
Mrs. Peck added, “The Career Center opportunity allows our students to get a more hands-on education, college credits, and job training all paid for by our school. Many of our students that go through the Career Center are able to secure a job immediately after graduation in the program of study that they chose.”
Sophomore student Jesse Elliston (10) mentioned, “During career day I was most interested in the culinary arts program. I was interested in this because I find cooking to be very enjoyable and would love to get better.”
Along with the Culinary arts program, O.T.C. offers Automotive classes, where they teach students how to work on and repair vehicles, and Electronic media, where they teach students graphic design. Adding to these options, O.T.C. also offers a Health Science class, Construction, Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Agriculture, Computer Science, along with more careers to choose from.
Mrs. Peck said, “The goal of this trip is to get sophomores thinking about their future career and/or schooling. We want them to see that there are other options for them to receive their high school credits besides the typical seated classroom.” Mrs. Peck later stated, “These options can help lead them to a career path, get a job right out of high school, and receive college credit for free.”
