Culinary Art students prepare meals.

On March 18, Kellie Carper launched the first Career Expo for middle-grades and high school students at McHenry Community College. Although this is the third year for the MCC Career Expo, in the past, Carper targeted non-traditional and new graduates. Carper is MCC’s Manager of New Student Transitions. She visits high schools and talks with prospective students about the career preparedness MCC offers. She also manages a fall event and the Spring Career Expo.

The Expo is one of a variety of ways MCC works with high school and middle school to get students prepared with their future as early as possible. Carper and Christina Haggerty, Public Information Officer, planned a series of ongoing initiatives, discussions, and activities for career readiness. “It’s becoming more and more important to begin to put the pieces together than will lead to gainful, meaningful and even employment,” explains Haggerty.

Part of the purpose of the Expo is helping students find their passion. Perhaps they need information about how a hobby or past-time can be translated into a career. For example, a love of art and cooking can become a specialized career of sugar blowing for Derek Rhyner.

MCC offers a duel credit program for high school students. In the past year, the college saw a 1000% increase in the students involved in this program. Students earn college credits while still in high school and in a career they are interested in. Start successfully with more time and less debt. This enables people like Maxwell Hirst to go directly from high school to become and employee owner at Scot Forge.

The number of businesses in the community surprises most people who attend the Expos, and the “really cool stuff they are doing,” explains Haggerty. There are few other places where local industry and businesses showcase what they do. For example, many people don’t understand what companies like Catalent or Knaack do and what impact the companies have on the community. It’s often a “real eye-opening for students, and to the other people, too” adds Carper.

The Expo provides students a venue for of discovery. MCC tries to showcase those businesses and industries in the county, as well as the diversity of specialized programs the college offers, like robotics, culinary science and paralegal training. Their focus on the county helps keep MCC aligned with neighboring community colleges. More importantly, MCC believes it’s important to give to students what they need to stay in the county, so that they will ultimately contribute back to this county. The Expo is a partnership with school districts, businesses, and industry, centralized through the college.

MCC saw a decrease in state funding over the past 5-10 years. Typically, community colleges receive about 1/3 of funding from State. MCC ranged between 4-6% for past 5-7 years. The state budget on the table now may impact grants funding. That’s why it’s even more important to look at partnerships and other creative ways to offer programs with a strong impact with less cost. The Expo helps drive support for local business and industry to partnerships. According to Carper, “It’s an innovative way to continue to meet the college’s mission and grow programs without additional funding.” Carper goes on to explains that MCC is in a better place than other community colleges in down-state Illinois, which have a weaker tax base and depend on more state funding. “Still, we don’t want to put additional burden on taxpayers or raise tuition.” she says.