In a joint effort between the Greene County Career Academy and Greene County ISU Extension, a new program caters to the younger people in the county.
The Career Exploration Camps allow 1st-8th graders opportunities to experience the seven different career strains that are offered at the career academy and done in a way that is creative and on their grade level. Career Academy Specialist Teresa Green talks about the overall goal of these programs.
“It’s just kind of a way to let them explore different things that are out there. Because there are so many different careers. You could work right here in Greene County, we’d love to have people stay in Greene County. Grow our own is one of our goals is that we can train you and then get you a job.”
The first set of classes will be in the culinary field and Greene County Extension 4-H and Youth Coordinator Samantha Hardaway describes what the kids will experience.
“These kids will be working with either Iowa Central (Community College) teachers or high school teachers in the actual kitchen at the school is the goal for this camp. So they get a taste of what culinary might be like. They might learn beginner knife skills, how to serve, how to cook a sweet treat, of course. But they’ll actually get to work with those teachers and get to experience what the career academy is like.”
All classes will take place at the career academy and held on two Mondays each month from 4-5:30pm. The culinary courses for 1st-3rd grades will be September 12th and 4th-8th grades on September 19th. Transportation will be provided from the elementary and middle schools to the high school. Cost to participate is $10 and registration is through the Greene County Extension office in Jefferson. You can call them at 515-386-2138, stop by or email Hardaway at hardaway@iastate.edu. Future classes and when they happen can be found below.
The first dates are for 1st-3rd grades and the second date is 4th-8th.
Welding: October 3rd and 17th
Construction: November 7th and 14th
Computer Science: December 5th and 19th
Agriculture: January 9th and 23rd
Health Sciences: February 6th and 27th
Education: March 6th and 27th