Kellogg job fair 'a little like trick or treating'

KELLOGG — The pressure was on as freshman Mykah Gray worked to try and keep the seal on the resuscitation training bag firmly over the practice dummy’s mouth.

Elizabeth Babcock talked him through the procedure and modified his movements to indicate the best method to save a life.

Babcock was one of the local professionals invited to be a part of the job and career fair at Kellogg High School. 

Babcock has been a part of Shoshone Medical Center’s pulmonary team, but is now working on becoming a physician’s assistant through Yale University. She’s proud to perform her first clinical rotations through Yale’s online program at SMC. 

She said she hopes students she spoke to throughout the day will realize they can find ways through limitations to pursue their goals.

“It’s hard growing up in North Idaho and it’s hard to find opportunities,” Babcock said. 

Gray’s career aspirations focus on football, welding or joining the military, but he was game to try and learn CPR skills before heading back to his afternoon classes.

From engineering, hospitality, cybersecurity, law enforcement and the U.S. Air Force, the job fair connected ninth-through-12th graders from Kellogg, Wallace and Mullan school districts to help students picture the future and take advantage of professional expertise on career paths. 

Tina Karst, special education director for Kellogg School District, organized the event and said the energy of the conversations and connections being made was exciting to see.

“Many said things like, ‘Now I have an idea of what I want to do,’” Karst said.

Speech pathologist Nicole Kessler said she had a steady stream of students stop by and was impressed by the depth to some of the questions she received throughout the morning.

“My throat’s getting so sore I’m talking so much,” Kessler said.

Ninth grader Laiken Bird said she was interested in either going into the speech pathology field or becoming a police officer. 

“We need more speech pathologists in the field,” Kessler said. Her job focuses on working with students with disabilities and requires six years of college.

Wallace students Britany Phillips and Aubrey Birdsell went through the vendor stations together. They were interested in the life and cognitive learning skills speech pathology can encompass and how those practices are adjusted for age and to accommodate needs. Sign language and assistive technology like an iPad with a speech program also aid in communications.

Being able to connect in quick bursts with so many potential employers made the career fair more fun for Bird.

“It’s like trick or treating,” Bird said.

After many student and staff requests, Kellogg School District is considering making the job and career fair an all-day affair next year. 

    Elizabeth Babcock instructs Mykah Gray in patient resuscitation with a training bag in the cafeteria at Kellogg High School. Babcock is currently working towards her physician's assistant degree through Yale University and working at Shoshone Medical Center.
  

    Kellogg High School hosted a job fair Friday. Students from Wallace and Mullan districts were bussed in to take advantage of the jobs on offer and career path information available from experts in the field.