Students Can Explore Future Opportunities at Virtual Fair
Amid COVID-19, ICR Future Career & College Fair Goes Online May 31
HIAWATHA, IOWA (May 26, 2020) — The ICR Future Career and College Fair is being held Sunday, May 31 from 1-3 pm, featuring more than 70 colleges, universities, and career resources from across Iowa and the nation, enabling high school students to engage with experts and explore future opportunities.
Originally scheduled to take place in Cedar Rapids, the fair is moving to a virtual platform to meet social gathering guidelines and provide a safe environment for students and parents to interact with fair exhibitors. To engage the virtual platform ,students must register to attend at www.icansucceed.org/icrfuture-student.
“The fair experience is such an important part of the planning process. Attending a fair enables students to explore different schools and training options, and talk to a variety of experts to learn about future opportunities.” Stated Brittania Morey, Director of Communications for ICAN.
But with campuses closed across the country and every spring college fair cancelled due to COVID-19, students and parents were left without many options to continue the planning process.
“ICAN was determined to offer something for students this spring,” explained Morey. “We began the process of converting our live event into a virtual one in early May. Now with a week to go we have built a virtual platform and engaged all of our exhibitors to provide a virtual experience that offers the same face-to-face connection our live event would have, just through a screen, from the comfort of home.”
The virtual format will be different, but will offer many of the same opportunities a live event would. Each exhibitor will have a virtual booth complete with webcam and audio features and students and parents can have the same conversation with representatives, ask the same questions and really dig into the opportunities available to them.
The fair is divided into segments – Student Services, Career Exploration, and Education and Training. Student Services offers exhibitors who provide support services or planning information to students while in high school to help prepare for the transition.
Career Exploration exhibitors represent business and industry and align with career assessment results students have received that match them to careers based on personality and interests.
Education and Training exhibitors represent colleges and universities from across the country, representing 13 states.
These three segments help bridge the gap between career exploration and college/training selection, to help students make informed decisions that align career interests with education and training. The fair is free and open to the public.
A career and college fair is the ideal place to learn more about schools and programs students might consider too far away to visit, too expensive or exclusive, or otherwise unattainable. Presented by ICAN and ICR Future, and sponsored by Kirkwood Community College, Renewable Energy Group, Community Promise by MEDCO, and Iowa Farm Bureau, the fair runs from 1 – 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 31.
Students of all ages and at all stages of the planning process are encouraged to attend and talk one-on-one with school and business representatives about making college and career choices.
“ICR Future is excited to help sponsor the ICR Future Career and College Fair,” stated Jennifer Daly, President and CEO for ICR Iowa. “Providing high school students a robust opportunity to explore career paths and a variety of post-secondary options can help inspire them as they consider their future.”
“In today’s ever-changing job market it’s important for students to not only plan for education or training after high school, but to have a career path in mind when they are making those decisions, and to understand the expectations employers will have once they graduate,” stated Morey.
Iowa schools will be joined by colleges from 13 different states including Kansas, Indiana, Florida, New York, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, among others. To see the complete list of exhibitors, visit ICANsucceed.org/icrfuture.
Students can also find suggestions for preparing for college fairs, making the most of their visits and what to do after a fair online. For more information about the ICR Future Virtual Career and College Fair, or to register visit: ICANsucceed.org/icrfuture.
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About ICAN
ICAN is a nonprofit, educational organization. ICAN is the College Access Network for Iowa, and a member of the National College Access Network (NCAN). ICAN has ten locations in Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Orange City, Sioux City and Waterloo, which provide programming and advising support to students and their families as they plan for education and training after high school. All ICAN programs and services are provided without charge. For more information about ICAN, call (877) 272-4692 or visit www.ICANsucceed.org.