SCRANTON, Pa. — Dozens of professionals will attend a children's career fair this weekend in Scranton, and WNEP is a proud media sponsor. Newswatch 16's Ally Gallo will talk about her career in meteorology and show us what else the fair will feature.
"Pretty much everything you can imagine, and probably more than you can imagine coming this year, to allow kids to dream big about what's possible," said President/CEO Lori Chaffers, Outreach Center for Community Resources.
At the Outreach Center for Community Resources in Scranton, kids are always encouraged to dream big. This weekend, Outreach is hosting its annual career fair, which is turning out to be just as big. More than 60 vendors have signed up, the most ever. Road Runner CDL Academy is one of them.
"I think it's great for kids because you don't always only have to go to college for a career. This is a great career for anyone. It's an industry that's going nowhere," said Heather Hauswirth, Road Runner CDL Academy.
There will be employees and representatives from pretty much any and every type of career. WNEP will be there, too, and so will Dee Apruzzese, who owns Kind Cutz Barbershop and Salon in Scranton.
She will give kids free haircuts on their first day of school but also wants to encourage them to think about all of their career possibilities.
"It is ok to be your authentic self if anything you want to do, it is ok to express yourself," Apruzzese said.
"And we know that creating a future orientation for kids, helping them dream about their future, is one of the things that keeps them on a path, gets them to high school, to college, to post secondary-ed. We want to ask kids early and often 'what do you want to be when you grow up?" Chaffers said.
The career fair is open to all kids and adults, but the activities are for ages 2 to 12.
"I think why people love this is because they get to build hope. And building hope is so much a part of what we do here at Outreach, and we want to do that for our community," Chaffers said.
The Children's Career Fair is Saturday, August 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Outreach Center for Community Resources on N 7th Avenue in Scranton.