Othello career showcase biggest ever

OTHELLO — More than 1,600 Othello students attended the 2023 Othello Career Showcase on Tuesday, filling up both gyms at the Othello High School alongside somewhere between 60 to 70 vendors, according to a statement from the Adams County Development Council.

Othello School District Student Services Director Amy Parris said that Tuesday’s showcase is the largest the district has put on. 

“It's just bigger and better than ever. I just really think it probably feels like the first year post-COVID that is back to normal, and not just normal, even better, because people are ready to kind of re-engage and support (it),” Parris said. “It just blows me away that there are 70 businesses here that can take a day out, and they brought numerous people, and so they really invest in our kids.”

Kyle Niehenke, executive director of the Adams County Development Council, which partnered with the Othello School District to put on the event, said it was a huge success.

“I was pretty blown away by how well the Othello one went,” Niehenke said. “Overall, I mean, it set the bar for how I hope next year goes because it went super well. I was pleased with every aspect of it.”

Parris said the students, ranging from eighth to 12th graders, were very engaged with the various vendors.

“Feedback has been awesome, actually, and one of the things we did a little bit more intentionally this year was prepare our students,” Parris said. “Part of the whole thing honestly is teaching them how to keep a conversation going, and handshakes and eye contact and all those things. Probably some of the questions that the students generated feel a little rote to the employers, but they're all on board.”

Niehenke also said the students did well at the event.

“They were rehearsed, they asked engaging questions, and they were very respectful and well-behaved,” he said.

Businesses at the event included both local and regional organizations covering a wide variety of careers and opportunities. Companies like Ladd Irrigation, J.R. Simplot, LTI Milky Way, Avista, RDO Equipment, Columbia Basin Health Association, and other industries showed up along with educational institutions ranging from Washington State University to Eastern Washington University to Big Bend Community College and more. Chelan-based company North Wind Aviation even flew in a helicopter to the high school.

Local small organizations such as Lighthouse Café, The Cow Path Bakery, The Old Hotel Art Gallery and others also had a presence. 

One local business in attendance was AGB Trucking.

“It was actually our first time participating in an event of that magnitude,” AGB Trucking Safety and Compliance Manager Katheryne Reichert said. “We did not expect to see that many employers. We were expecting to see students, of course, we knew we were going to be dealing with eighth graders to 12th graders, but we did not expect to see the community involved. So that was great to see … We’re definitely looking forward to next year.”

Reichert said they had several students express interest in working at AGB, including students who enrolled in Othello School District’s upcoming CDL training program in the spring.

“Actually, we were pretty surprised to see a lot of female students approach our booth. That was great to see and to encourage the new generation to join a male-dominated industry,” Reichert said. “We were happy to let them know that we actually have three females in our fleet, and they were pretty interested in the information that we had to offer.”

Reichert said AGB attended the event to make students aware of its business.

“Unfortunately, we've seen a shortage in people applying in this industry, so we have to be proactive in making sure that we keep the new generation interested,” Reichert said.

Avista Utilities Othello Operations Manager Martin Garcia said the event went very well.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It was awesome. We love seeing the kids — that was our second time doing it — we love interacting with the kids, answering all the questions that they have and just kind of putting ourselves out there for them. They really don’t know who we are, let alone what we do.”

Parris explained the primary motivation behind hosting the event.

“We like to expose our kids to the awesome job opportunities around the Othello region and try to teach them that everybody needs something after high school, hence Perry Tech is over there, all the Big Bend programs, if it's a training program or college, but go do that and then choose to come back to Othello if you want,” Parris said. “Or, you know, go explore. But we always love it when our kids come back. And so we wanted them to see that there’s so much right here.”

Niehenke said he believed the showcase was very successful in showing Othello students what Othello and the Columbia Basin have to offer for post-high school opportunities. 

“The fact that those kids knew kind of what they wanted to do, but didn't know how to do it, and then they go (to the showcase) and figure out the path to go do what they want to do is why we do this in general,” Niehenke said. “My goal is to retain kids to come back to be able to work for our employers so they're not always struggling … we want to retain our knowledge and our workforce so that our companies can continue to move here and be strong.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android. 

    Othello Career Showcase participants representing Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center converse with students Tuesday at Othello High School.
  

    Tuesday’s 2023 Othello Career Showcase, pictured, was put on by the Othello School District and the Adams County Development Council.
  

    North Wind Aviation flew in a helicopter, pictured, to Othello High School for the 2023 Othello Career Showcase Tuesday.
  

    Several organizations brought commercial vehicles and equipment to exhibit at the Othello Career Showcase at Othello High School Tuesday.