Sparking an interest

For the fourth year in a row, students from across West Alabama learned about different careers in the community through the Worlds of Work expo.

WOW, which is held every year at Shelton State Community College, was the site for nearly 4,000 middle school students to come and learn about more than 100 different trades. The expo kicked off Thursday and will continue Friday. In recent years, a second WOW has been held in the spring specifically for high school students.

During the morning, the eighth-graders toured the exhibits while other high school students came later in the afternoon.

"WOW shows our students the amazing futures they can have by exposing them to real careers in our area at a young age," West Alabama Work Executive Director Donny Jones said in a statement. "It plants the seeds for success."

On the first day of the expo, many employers took the opportunity to explain careers through a series of games. Spire, formerly known as Alagasco, taught students about the natural gas utility industry by having them demonstrate how to isolate gas in a damaged line.

"We’re trying to show them what we do," said Chad Green, customer service representative for Spire.

For others, such as Hotel Capstone, the activities were more about teamwork. During one exercise, students were tasked with making up a bed or quickly transporting a tray of food and drinks from one point to another.

Yomiko Thomas, a supervisor for the front desk at Hotel Capstone, said there are many aspects to the hospitality industry that young people do not know about.

"People just automatically assume that the hotel business is just front desk or just housekeeping, so we’re giving them different aspects," Thomas said.

Thomas has seen the fruits of WOW over the years. In the last year, Hotel Capstone hired one student from Central High School on a part-time basis based on her interest from attending a previous expo.

"It’s definitely a good way to get your foot in the door and find out what you really want to do," Thomas said.

Katie Collins, an eighth-grade student at Vernon Intermediate School in Lamar County, said she was most interested in learning about pharmacology.

"It seems like it is good money," Katie said.

Lazavier Watters, an eighth-grade student at George P. Austin Junior High in Linden, said he was interested in learning more about the hotel industry. He was one of several students who took part in an exercise to run in a circle while pushing a cart of luggage.

Lazavier said he would recommend any of his friends to come to WOW.

"It’s fun and you get to see a lot of things that you might want to do someday," Lazavier said.

Reach Drew Taylor at drew.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.