Achille holds GEAR UP Career Fair

Achille students learned about life in the real world Friday, November 10, as nine professionals from a range of industries spoke to students at Achille’s Career Fair.

The fair was sponsored by the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Partnership as part of a career mini-grant program for the month of November, which is National Career Month. Achille High School Counselor Melanie Stanley and Principal Steve Evans organized the event.

Speakers included U.S. Army Reserve Sergeant Hall, Choctaw Wellness Center Director Keith Baxter, Physical Therapist Lance Patterson, Athletic Trainer Scott Willman, Durant Fire Chief Steve Dow, KLBC Station Manager Todd Tidwell, Game Warden Joe Hemphill and Management and Marketing Professor Dr. Jim Speers.

The day was a great success, Stanley said.

“Achille students got information from a wide range of local professions, so no matter what their interests or talents, most students learned about a career of interest for them,” Stanley said.

The SOSU GEAR UP Partnership is a federally grant funded program that serves 1,852 eleventh- and twelfth-graders in 14 schools in Bryan, Choctaw and McCurtain counties. The schools are: Achille, Bennington, Boswell, Broken Bow, Caddo, Calera, Colbert, Durant, Fort Towson, Hugo, Rock Creek, Silo, Soper and Valliant.

For more information on GEAR UP, call (580) 745-3122 or visit www.se.edu/gearup.