Leon County middle and high school students participate in Leon Works Fall Preview

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - About 5,000 Leon County Schools middle and high school students are learning more about careers they could have in the future.

LCS students participated in the Leon Works Fall Preview during the month of September.

The virtual program connected students with local businesses and careers, teaching them more about available opportunities.

The Office of Economic Vitality, Leon County, and the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce partnered to feature the leading sectors for job growth in the region between 2020 and 2018.

Students heard from industry employees in manufacturing, theater, construction and trade, creative, entrepreneurship, and technology.

SAIL High School participated in Thursday’s event.

“It is a good idea to hear it from other people because then it gives you a bigger, wider stuff of ideas you can actually think about what you want to do with your future,” said SAIL Senior, Jace Harris.

“I thought it was kind of interesting like to see a real, a local success story you know, you can actually kind of take something from you know,” Brian Jawhari, another Senior, said.

Doug Currey has taught Economics and Financial Literacy and United States Government at SAIL for twenty years.

He says the event comes at a time when students need to self assess.

“What are my interests, what are my abilities, what kidn of work environment do I have, what are my values, and get an idea of the fields that might meet those criteria,” Currey explained

The Leon Works preview uses Talent Hub, an online career platform created by the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. It allows businesses to post job opportunities, and potential applicants to work on resumes, engage in training, and apply for jobs.

“It’s good for kids that are graduating high school, maybe looking at a two year degree, or vocational, it’s really great for them to move more quickly into the workforce,” Currey said.

The program helped get students excited about the future.

“You can always like achieve what you want to do as long as you put your mind to it,” Harris said.

The Leon Works Fall Preview is not the only career event for local students; there will also be an expo in the spring.

Talent Hub is available to everyone; you can access it here.

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