News & Media

Career on Wheels Event Touches 1,000 Students Across Iredell County

Provided by Statesville Record & Landmark, Ben Gibson, October 8, 2022

On any trip, it helps to know where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

For the Careers on Wheels event at Iredell County Fairgrounds in Troutman on Friday, the goal was to guide middle school students toward more possibilities once they’re ready to start their own careers.

“We find it’s beneficial to broaden their scope,” Tim Woody said. The director of Career and Technical Education for Iredell-Statesville Schools explained how middle school is a good time to explore various different professions before they begin to focus on particular careers in high school.

“We want them to have a laser focus on what they are doing after high school whether it is going to work, going to college or going to the military. We want them to know CTE courses can benefit them to whatever that goal is post-secondary.”

The inaugural event was planned to help open up students’ eyes to a number of jobs in transportation as they progress toward high school.

 

Around 1,000 students in Iredell-Statesville Schools and Mooresville Graded School District came through to see more than four dozen different businesses and how transportation, logistics and people play a role both on the road and behind the scenes.

Juli Tipton, the career development coordinator for middle school programs, said the event tied in with a career exploration platform called Major Clarity. She said it can help students see their strengths and weaknesses and what careers might be best suited for their interests and skills.

“The more they interact with that platform, the more narrow their focus gets, and will hopefully guide them to a fulfilling career some day,” Tipton said.
And while some middle school students may or may not find themselves in a career in transportation or technical fields, events like Careers on Wheels show them the people and equipment involved in those careers.

“I’m learning that all these people really care about their jobs and what they’re doing. They’re all really passionate about it,” Braylon Snead said, a student at Lakeshore Middle in Mooresville.