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Date: 11/3/2022
BELCHERTOWN – Belchertown High School will be hosting an alumni career fair on Nov. 22 from 8 to 11 a.m. for its students.
The event started a few years ago but has not been able to happen the last two years because of COVID-19.
Elizabeth Teixeira is an art teacher at the high school and a 1998 graduate of Belchertown High School who came up with the idea after attending a department chair meeting with a couple teachers who graduated from Belchertown High School like herself.
After she talked to those alumni, she wanted to be able to take their experiences and be able to help the students make connections with people out in the real world.
This conversation sparked the idea of having a career fair that only included alumni from Belchertown High School.
Over the years, Teixeira has gathered a list of 90 alumni that she reaches out to each year to gain presenters. She said she tries to get anywhere from 30 to 40 alumni to participate each year.
As a participant in this event, alumni will be grouped with others in a similar field. Students spend around five minutes with each alumni to hear from them and ask questions.
Alumni will give a one to two minute presentation about who they are, when they graduated and what they do. After that it will be opened for questioning from students.
Teixeira said she hopes this event may open new career paths that students may not have thought about before and be able to relate to someone who went to the same high school and is interested in the same field.
She added, “My goal is for the students to make connections with the alumni or open their eyes to different career paths and be able to see it is attainable for them. We have had a lot of alumni start in a certain field and end up in a different area, so I think it is good for the kids to hear that if they choose a path, it is alright to shift gears.”
Alumni give out their emails also well in case the students have any further questions or in some cases may be looking for an internship.
Those interested in this event should email eteixeira@belchertownps.org by Nov. 16.