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Immersed in his conversation, Devak Jannu ’25 engages with an IBM representative, absorbing his insights into the ever-evolving world of information technology. Like Jannu, many students were able to network with a wide variety of industry professionals during the fair.
Ms. Melanie Catuogno'
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A crowd of intrigued students gathers at the Hanger Clinic booth, with one eager student Youjia Yu ’28 examining a prosthetic limb up close.
Melanie Catuogno'
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Showcasing their work, a Hanger Clinic representative demonstrates how biomedical engineering can transform lives with prosthetics to David Elizondo ’25 and Isabella Bozyan ’27. During the career fair, many students got the opportunity to explore an array of real-world applications of CTE topics.
Ms. Melanie Catuogno'
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Taking part in the career fair, Art Academy Ambassador Lilly Yang ’25 showcases her handcrafted white dress at the fashion booth. The fair was an intriguing outlet for student representatives to showcase their work for interested peers.
Ms. Melanie Catuogno'
The library transformed into a bustling scene of career exploration on Wednesday, Sept. 25 as students gathered for the career fair organized by the Academy Ambassadors and National Technical Honor Society.
The fair had been in the planning stages since the previous spring, and sparked from the ideas of Academy Ambassadors Eliza Krits ‘26, Arjun Bhardwaj ‘25, and Benjamin Li ‘25. Inspired by a proposed engineering-focused career fair, they expanded the concept to encompass all industries to create a holistic career exploration experience for students.
“We actually started planning the event last year all the way in spring, so it’s been a long process,” Bhardwaj said. “We reached out to [our] partners and made sure that there was enough interest to hold this large of an event. Starting off this year, we sort of kicked it off into the ramp. Up until the week of, we were still reaching out via announcements and StuCo updates, and this was what really helped us get a lot of people there. I think we counted around 600 students on the day of, so it was a great turnout. We had about 20 partners from STEM, health science, business and industry, and visual and performing arts.”
As many students and staff alike later noted, the event’s success was a testament to the hard work and collaboration between students, teachers, and industry professionals. Ms. Avni Kantawala, who co-organized the fair with Ms. Melissa Thomas from the district’s CTE team, highlighted the cooperation and enthusiasm of the various teams involved.
“We started planning this event last year, kind of reserving the space and contacting industry partners,” Ms. Kantawala said. “Ms. Melissa Thomas has a lot of connections because she works at the district side, so she helped to invite a lot of industry partners she knew. Ms. Tish Saliani and Ms. Rachael Vivian invited some people they knew as well. So there was a lot of cooperation between teachers and then we just arranged to have them show up, bring their own display. Then, we just contacted the staff and told them to bring their students down if they’re interested.”
Many academies and departments set up booths to showcase their specialized curricula, electives, and career-oriented courses. This gave students the chance to learn about specific endorsements, and how choosing specific electives offered by various academies can align with their future career goals. Among the many academic programs represented, the Health Science and Public Service Academy drew in many curious students throughout the fair.
“There are all these different electives so we were just making sure that those without an endorsement knew what those electives were really about,” Preethi Ram ‘25 said. “There’s so many opportunities within Health Science, like practicum where students can actually [participate] in internships and work at a pharmacy while still being in school. You can also get certifications that will be really helpful [for] your future. With the Public Service Academy, ROTC, we’re trying to get rid of the image where it’s solely [about] the military and very serious. We want [to] show that it’s actually fun and there are so many great things you can do.”
The career fair not only showcased academic programs, but also allowed students to interact directly with industry professionals and company representatives. Students were able to ask specific questions about various career paths, educational requirements, and potential internship opportunities.
“I was primarily looking for internships and I was pretty satisfied since everyone seemed to have a lot of information about their companies and it was great hearing about all of them,” Devak Jannu ‘25 said. “I’m really interested in Toppan Semiconductors now since they said that they had an internship for college juniors and seniors so I might look at that for the future.”
The buzz of excitement and discovery was exactly what the event organizers had hoped to create. For NTHS President Bhardwaj, seeing the students conversing with industry representatives, jotting down notes, and collecting business cards was especially rewarding.
“I think that all clubs and classes at this school, CTE in particular, are really here to help you decide a career, so I’m glad that we got the opportunity to help students decide what career they’d actually want to pursue,” Bhardwaj said. “I really like planning events like this and going to them. I decided my career because of Academy Ambassadors so I just want other people to have that same experience.”
For the organizers, this initiative exemplified the school’s educational goals of bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world application. The months of behind-the-scenes planning paid off as they watched students leave with new ideas, industry connections, and clearer visions for their futures.
“Collaborating with the CTE department and NTHS was really great. They were incredibly helpful and I feel like everyone involved was very enthusiastic and motivated to make it happen,” Ms. Kantawala said. “I hope [the students] who attended got the opportunity to see all sorts of different types of careers that are available, and know that there are all these diverse paths. A lot of them were getting to talk about ‘how did you get to the place you are’ with the ambassadors and industry partners, [and] that was really our goal — to show people what they can do after they graduate high school.”
![Blending her bilingual skills and journalistic abilities to share the stories of American culture, Lena Boas ‘25 crafted a video package documenting American life for German audiences. “[A German TV station] wanted me to do this video diary so that I could show my personal life and what it's like going to school here [US].”](https://westwoodhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Copy-of-Copy-of-Pink-White-Watercolor-Colorful-Landscape-Label-13.png)
