Students respond to potential careers

Job fair offered direction

MOSES LAKE - Hundreds of students and parents attended a job and career fair Thursday to learn about opportunities in the Columbia Basin.

The event, held at Moses Lake High School, was sponsored by the Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake High School, the Operations Task Force and WorkSource Central Basin.

Students in attendance were bombarded with gifts and information about local job and career opportunities.

"It's a great opportunity for young people," said Moses Lake Community Health Center Human Resource Generalist Colleen Hazel.

The business teased prospective applicants with the chance to win gift cards by choosing a key and checking to see if it fit the lock on a chest.

Wilson Creek High School junior Kelsey Campbell, 16, said she and her peers came to the event to figure out what they want to do after high school. Campbell said she hopes to stay and work in the Columbia Basin after she graduates.

"I like being close to my family," she said.

Her plans include attending Big Bend Community College and then transferring to Eastern Washington University.

"There's a lot more options than I thought there would be," noted Wilson Creek High School freshman Kali Winfrey, 14.

About 28 Ephrata High School students traveled by bus to the job fair, said Guided Studies teacher Bobi Spence.

"We're very impressed with the organization and all of the different companies that have come out to participate, and the turnout," Spence said.

She said Ephrata High School is interested in conducting a similar job and career fair at their high school campus.

Ephrata High School junior Keith Berg, 17, said he believed the job and career fair would give him a good idea of what jobs are out there.

"I've been looking for a job since I was 16," Berg said.

He said he hadn't found an opportunity he was sure about at the fair, but he found the trip to be worthwhile.

Some job-seekers attending the fair were not in high school, but they came looking for work nonetheless.

Tom Bauerle, 29, said he was injured on the job and is now looking for another job. Bauerle said he found many companies he didn't know about because he is new to the Columbia Basin.

"I came here to get a job," said Arianne Ozolins, a student at Columbia Basin Job Corps.

Ozolins helped set up for the job and career fair. She said a lab technician position at National Frozen Foods appealed to her.

Columbia Basin Job Corps student John Kovachy, who also helped set up the event, said he saw a computer engineer position he was interested in.

Dozens of employers set up booths at the job fair, from grocery stores to service providers, to industries.

McCain Foods Technical Services Supervisor Matt Yearsley said the company is the largest French-fry producer in the world. The company, with U.S. plants based in Chicago, Ill., offers an internship program in Othello for high school students, Yearsley said.

Basic American Foods Human Resource Manager Dave Cooper said the company is hiring for a mechanic, and some visitors to the job fair have turned in resumes for the position.

Cooper said the students asked many good questions. He said the job and career fair helps build relationships.

The event is all about building relationships, he said.

"I think we reached the kids," he said.