By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Partnerships with local high schools are drawing more students to the Missouri Western State University St. Joseph campus.
President Elizabeth Kennedy says there have been many different events on campus, such as Super Science Saturday, that provide opportunities for students.
"For young people to get ignited in their passions to find out what interests them and what kind of careers they want to explore," Kennedy tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. "And to do so in a family environment with mom, or dad, or siblings, or grandma and grandpa, or whomever, it's just so neat to see that, to see everyone get excited about what we're doing."
Kennedy says Super Science Saturday drew over 1,000 students to campus to explore and learn about various types of sciences, ranging from biology to psychology.
Kennedy says events that draw students to campus are important as many students are considering the future.
"You have a lot of students who will be entering, whether it's their senior year of high school, entering their senior year with us at Missouri Western, and it's that that time to really, even for juniors, to start thinking what's the next step, where am I going to go," Kennedy says.
In a partnership effort with local high schools, students will get the chance to speak with regional businesses about their employment needs.
Missouri Western President Elizabeth Kennedy says Missouri Westen will host MO-RISE on March 14th for students pursuing STEM degrees.
"We have young people that are dressed up almost kind of like if they were going on a dinner event for an interview and you have business folks coming in, and we mix our students with the business leaders at small tables so they can talk to each other" Kennedy explains. "The student can talk about what they've learned, their career interests, the employers can talk about here's some openings that we have in our company or here's what we're looking for in our next candidate that we wish to hire."
Kennedy says the event provides an opportunity to build a face-to-face connection with employers in the STEM field.