DECATUR, Ala. — We hear a lot about the school-to-career pipeline and Decatur City Schools wants to help students down that path. The school district is gearing up for a hiring event to assist those entering the job market in health care, automotive, and more.
The Career Academies of Decatur will host the hiring event, open to students participating in work-based learning, internship, and apprenticeships, on September 4. Alexia Brown is a full-time senior at the Career Academies of Decatur. She's excited about the hiring event because she's looking to get some on-the-job experience. "We've been taking blood pressure. We do CPR and yeah, and when I leave here, I will be CPR certified. Anything that would give me, even if they want me to sit at a desk and take people's name, anything that gives me closer because I want to go to school for nursing. So anything that can give me experience that I can just observe anything."
Aalan Zaragoza is also a full-time senior at CAD. His family owns a supermarket in Huntsville. Zaragoza is looking forward to one day becoming an entrepreneur and maybe even carrying on his family legacy. "Once they told me that if your father passes away, you know, I have the business under my name and I have to eventually take charge. I'm in the right place to learn more about business and what not. If anything happens to the business, I'll know, like any problems, if there are any, I'll have the solution right away."
Full-time senior Taylor Atkins says her cosmetology program is preparing her to do much more than just hair. "As I'm coming out of, I do like nails, cutting eyebrows, and pedicures, manicures."
Work Based Learning Coordinator Angela Crushing said this hiring event is different from a typical career fair. But the overall goal is, "By the time they get ready to graduate, that student is ready to be plugged right in to that job because they've observed that seasoned employee and they're ready to plug right in. Hopefully we can get students hired immediately on the spot. That's the goal."