DAYTONA BEACH ― Jaquwon Roberts sported a Class of ’24 T-shirt at a career-college fair at Mainland High School this week, but was having a bit of difficulty grasping that graduation ― and the rest of his life ― looms so close.

“It’s, like, starting to stress me already,” he said.

The college-career fair, a new legislative mandate of public high schools, meshed with one of Mainland Principal Joseph Castelli’s goals for graduates.

“When they get their diploma, they are given a next step, as well,” Castelli said. “So many times a kid is like, ‘What is that next step going to be? You can tell me to fill out all of these forms and take all of these questionnaires and I still don’t know what I want to do.’”

Meeting with an actual person ― an employer or a college counselor who can answer questions and suggest next steps ― makes a big difference, Caselli said.

For Roberts, that meant moving beyind his notion of becoming a mechanic. He had a chance to meet with a representative from Daytona State College, which has an automotive technology service program.

He was also planning to visit with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Chinchor Electric, Inc., just two of the 50 or so businesses, agencies and educational instituions represented at the event, held Tuesday afternoon for high school students and Tuesday evening for the public.

Career, college options abound

Students were able to mingle with recruiters from the Army, Navy and Marines, officials from the Daytona Beach and South Daytona police and fire departments, Volusia County, the Florida Department of Transportation and even Volusia County Schools. Some of the local businesses included Seacoast Bank, Budd Severino Advanced Home Exteriors and Carter Electric Co., Inc.

In addition to the local higher education institutions ― Daytona State College, the University of Central Florida, Bethune-Cookman University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Stetson University and Keiser University ― recruiters were there from the University of North Florida, Florida Southern College, the University of Northwestern Ohio and NVI Institute of Blairsville, Pennsylvania.

Jewel Johnson, counseling director for Mainland High School, said between 250 and 300 of the school’s seniors signed up to attend the fair. 

“Over the last couple of years, we have been real concerned about those students who really don’t have plans to go to college, but they want to do something to be able to support themselves after high school,” Johnson said.

“Yes, it’s a mandate, but it is something that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” she said. “And we have local vendors here that are begging to hire students that are right out of high school and train them to stay here and give back to our community.”

Employers make their pitches

Jarod Montgomery, a Mainland senior who was looking at several options including the Daytona State College welding program, said he had assumed he was going straight to college after high school. 

“So I wouldn’t waste any time,” he said. But he said he’s now also considering going to work and attending classes along the way.

For many, this is an increasingly appealing option, said Robert Cruz, training director of the Electrical Alliance of Daytona Beach, IBEW-NECA.

“I tell the students the day they graduate, we can give them a job. Not only that, we give them free education,” Cruz said. “They have no debt. They can go four years with us without paying college tuition. That’s the beauty of apprenticeship.”

Cruz said he was appreciative of the opportunity to meet with potentially hundreds of students to help him fill the 60-70 people he’s hoping to recruit by next spring.

Matthew Wittwer, president of Carter Electric in Daytona Beach, said he’s seen a societal shift in attitudes toward career guidance.

“College, I think, when I was growing up, was really the way everybody was directed. The trades got overlooked and they’ve kind of had a resurgence,” he said.

Even with this, there remains great demand for workers, both in the field and the office.

“We can’t find enough people to work in the trade. We’re working pretty much every weekend,” he said, adding that he holds interviews Tuesdays and Thursday consistently.

Craig Mathis of Budd Severino Advanced Home Exteriors, which installs gutters, soffit and windows, said his pitch to students is simple: If you’re 18 years old you’ll get an opportunity. 

“It’s hands on. You get to be outside all day. You’re never in the same spot all the time,” he said. “You can move up in the company.”

Florida law expands career education

Senate Bill 240, sponsored by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, passed this spring. It provides $102 million to strengthen students’ pathways to careers and requires public high schools to host college-career fairs.

The bill also provides a tax credit to qualifying businesses that employ apprentices and reimbursement to those businesses for workers’ compensation premiums for students in work-based learning programs. 

It passed both chambers of the Legislature with no opposition and had a wide range of support. 

Shan Goff, director of state policy and legislation with the Foundation for Florida’s Future, spoke in support of the bill at a Senate Education K-12 Committee hearing in March. 

“Strengthening pathways to college and career is one of our core policy principles,” she said. “We strongly advocate for developing a continuum of policy of programs that support all of the student pathways that lead to high-skill, higher-wage and in-demand jobs.”

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