by SARAH THOMACK
St. Joseph Post
Thanks to a grant, an annual career day-type event for high school students will switch to a virtual format this year.
Kristi Bailey with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce says the My Success Event takes place this week.
“We were very fortunate to receive a Hometown Economic Recovery Grant from Evergy that is helping us bring this major workforce development event online,” Bailey says. “So kids can still learn from companies, get to talk to representatives face-to-face, just through their computer instead of in-person.”
Bailey says 1,800 area high school seniors will be participating in the My Success Event this year. The event typically features over 50 area businesses with booths set up at Wyatt Baptist Church for students to explore potential careers in the St. Joseph area.
“These high school seniors are going to graduate next spring and they’re going to need jobs or training to get jobs or go off into college, so even though there’s a pandemic, that doesn’t stop the need for students to be able to plan their futures,” Bailey says. “It's definitely very important for them to still get this information, so online is the way we chose to do that this year so they didn’t miss out.”
The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce received the $10,000 grant from Evergy to transform not only the My Success Event but another workforce development program - Manufacturing Day in October - from in-person to virtual events.