Amy Alcantara
Staff Writer
The Academic and Career Advising Center hosted the Careers in Education Fair on March 22 Campus Center Ballroom. The fair was held to provide information to students who are interested in careers in the education field.
Melissa Moss, the academic and employer experiences manager, Title V LEGACY Grant, said they host the fair every year in March. It is for all students to explore opportunities on how their major could tie into the education field, regardless of their major. She said education is not only K-12, but it also involves teachers, staff, administrators and counselors.
“There are organizations that are focused on youth and family and nonprofits that support education as well and even a whole sector in education technology,” Moss said.
She mentioned that every year, they have different school districts and organizations at the fair, with the exception of Bonita and Pomona Unified, as well as Los Angeles Unified School District.
Juliana Pena, a freshman child development major student, attended the event to see what opportunities there are for her in the future. She said she was excited to be part of an event like this, where students could get information on the education field because it is very broad.
“I’m looking to go into speech therapy and speech pathology for graduate school,” Pena said. “Maybe I can get a connection for an internship with the districts or the places that are at the fair right now.”
Rowan Nila, a freshman child development major student, said her career goal is to be a first or second grade teacher, and she was able to get some information from the EdTheory booth.
“The fair is a good resource to get your foot in the door and meet different schools and get information,” Nila said.
School districts that attend these events are looking for employees to join them for the next school year.
John McCormack, the assistant principal at John L. Golden Elementary School from Etiwanda School District, said they participate in three to five fair events every spring. They go to different universities in Southern California, including San Bernardino, Riverside and some in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
He said students could find all their information and job postings online at etiwanda.org.
“Our goal is to find those next teachers, those next instructional aides,” McCormack said.
Although there were a lot of different school districts there were also staffing agencies.
Gracie Alvarez, the career services manager at EdTheory, said their company is in Northern California, but it has a presence throughout the state. She said they assist people with finding jobs in education, such as special education teachers, speech language pathologists, school psychologists, nurses and all other occupations related to schools.
“We work with over 100 school districts throughout all of California,” Alvarez said. “We have local and traveling opportunities.”
She said they are rated 4.8 and 4.9 on websites Indeed and Glassdoor and they service over 300 employees. Anyone who is interested in applying for jobs can find their postings on EdTheory.com. She said if they want to reach out for a position that is not posted, they are able to inquire through their website.
Jordan Herrera, a recreation specialist at Diamond Bar Recreation Center, said even though they are not part of a school district, they do have staff that come from child development backgrounds. A lot of the positions they have open tie in with those backgrounds because they work with kids of different ages.
“We are constantly hiring, especially with the summer day camp approaching, we need a lot of staff,” Herrera said. “They can apply online at governmentjobs.com.”
Academic and Career Advising have more events coming up online. Students are welcome to join their Social Media Presence and Maximizing LinkedIn Workshop on April 20 at 12 p.m. They will also be hosting a Graduate School Preparation Workshop on April 24 at 12 p.m. University of La Verne alumni Madeline Ruiz will be discussing interview procedures, internship and career opportunities in consulting on May 11 at 12 p.m. Students can find these events and register on Campus Labs.
Students who need help with cover letters, resumes or LinkedIn profiles can book a one-on-one session with an academic and career advisor. Moss said students could make appointments via Handshake to get the support they need.
“Please let us help you, we want to,” Moss said. “We are here for you.”
Amy Alcantara can be reached at amairani.alcantaramontes@laverne.edu.
Amy Alcantara, a junior communications major with and emphasis in public relations, is a staff writer for the Campus Times.
