Led by Co-op Coordinator and business teacher, Mr. Brandon Bond and assisted by student aide Mrs. Marita Barth, Cinnaminson High School has relaunched the Careers Exploration Club with the purpose of providing students exposure to different career and trade options that they may otherwise not have the chance to experience.

According to Barth, the Careers Exploration Club’s main goals for this year are to build a core of students and to spread the word of the reintegration of this club at CHS. Barth describes the various opportunities students are offered through the club.

“This year is just to get like a corps of students, like get the word out there that this is something that we would like to institute into the school again,” Barth said. “…so that they get hands-on experience with some of these things that they may not otherwise have the experience doing.”

Barth also expressed a desire to educate the club’s members on some of the most basic skills that would help students succeed in their daily lives. 

Barth and Bond both have set long-term goals for the club. They said they hope to get the Cinnaminson community involved and bring in people who have experience with various trades, so they can share these opportunities and experiences with students.

“…To get the community involved, like get more community members to come in and work with the students, so that possibly the students would get jobs through them,” Barth said. 

The idea to get the community more involved has led to both of them reaching out to local businesses to see if they would like to come in to educate students about their careers and industry.

“Right now a lot of what we’re doing is trying to just network with different area businesses to see if business owners would like to come in and just give a general talk about their career, about their industry, about opportunities within the industry to students,” Bond said.

The club has already taken time to explore the culinary industry in December with the help of culinary teacher, and owner of Munchy Machine food truck, Chef Ralph Kane.

The “trade day” allowed students to gain experience with the culinary industry and proved to be a success, with the first day focusing on providing students with insight into what it is like to own and operate a catering business, and the second day giving students hands-on experience with baking in small groups. 

Students in the club have also been invited to a series of guest lectures from various specialists and representatives in a wide variety of fields.  Last week representatives from both SEPTA and a landscaping company visited CHS to meet and discuss with the club career opportunities available within their respective fields. Yesterday students interested in the construction industry attended an information session held in the library.

Future speakers as part of the lecture series include representatives from the Funplex and the attorney general’s office. During these sessions, which are to be held in April, club members will be able to explore career opportunities and learn about the different positions and pathways to careers in these fields. Upcoming workshops also include cookie and cake decorating led by pastry chefs in addition to an animal care session.

The club also has a field trip planned to visit the Automotive Training Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania next month where students will be able to tour the facility and meet with professionals in the automotive field.

For more information, including dates of the various workshops and trips, students should join the Careers Exploration club’s Google Classroom and follow the club on Instagram: careertradedayz.