Rockland BOCES Career Expo 2010 was attended by more than 450 students from each one of BOCES secondary programs. The event was organized through the cooperative efforts of Rockland BOCES Special Education, Career Education and Adult Education divisions and VESID.

Expo chairperson Dawn Kitz explained that students benefit more from a career expo if they have some notion about the company or organization they’re interacting with. It also makes it easier for students to ask questions of potential employers. To prepare for the expo, students work with staff to prepare a list of questions to ask potential employers. Questions included “what does this type of work involve; what type of education or training is necessary for this career area; is there anything a student could do now to help prepare for this field; could you describe a typical day for me; and what is the starting salary?”

A number of employers return to the expo year after year, including Black Walnut, located in Valley Cottage. Black Walnut builds TV studio sets and has such illustrious clients as the Jon Stuart Show. Expo committee members say that having a local business whose employees need a number of skills taught at CTEC’s Construction Trades Academy, is just one instance of what makes this expo so worth while.

Others employers present at the expo included Avon, Canzona’s Market, Fab-U-Plus Hair Salon of Spring Valley, Jawonio, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department, UPS of Spring Valley and Walmart of Suffern.