Exploring career paths: C4 students visit local employers

Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus North C4 student Evey Richards, left, takes a photo of classmate Vincia Li inside a piece of construction equipment during an industry tour event at Taylor Bros. Construction in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022.

Local ninth graders recently got a taste of some of the career opportunities available in Columbus.

About 450 freshmen from Columbus East and North high schools participated in industry tours last week featuring local employers, according to C4 team leader Autumne Streeval.

“The goal of the industry tours is for students to have a wider awareness of career pathways within their region,” she said. “A lot of students are unsure what their career might look like, and so this is a way for them to see what’s in our region and to also find an interest that they can match to a C4 class.”

The visits included Taylor Brothers Construction, Columbus Regional Hospital, Columbus Municipal Airport, Columbus Police Department, multiple Cummins, Inc facilities, the city garage, Toyota Material Handling, Lindal North America, Vernet US Corporation and Ninth Avenue Foods.

Streeval said that organizers worked to ensure that students, who are taking C4’s “Preparing for College and Careers” course, visited a variety of different industries and learned about the range of jobs available in each sector.

“A lot of our students, when they go out, they may think that health care is just doctor or nurse type of career, that it’s very patient-centered,” she said. “But when they go and they visit CRH, they see that there are a lot of different pathways beyond just doctor and nurse, that a hospital will need security. A hospital needs IT. A hospital has a whole business side that runs as well. So it’s really, it’s not only exposing them to different careers, but it’s also widening their perspective of what that industry itself offers.”