The third floor of the Bank of America Stadium was filled with chatter from networking, interviews and the occasional light flash from headshots, as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools took over for the CTE Futures Fair on Tuesday, March 24.

More than 700 high school students had the opportunity to visit the tables to meet and connect with various businesses and organizations to further solidify or explore their post-secondary plans. 

“We have an organization here from every single one of North Carolina’s career clusters,” said Eric Summerour, executive director of Career and Technical Education. “Whether it’s construction, hospitality, trades, engineering, business, finance. They’re all here to support our students. We want to ensure that we give our students one more opportunity to network with different people from the community to give them a plan after high school.”

Innencia Robinson, a senior at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology, was excited to connect with a program advisor at Novant Health during the fair. Robinson plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and study to become a pediatric nurse. 

William Amos Hough High School students Miles Saxton and Kyle Busby also visited several tables and connected with businesses that not only matched their interests but also gave them new career paths to consider.

“This event is very important and beneficial for our generation and our future,” said Saxton. “As seniors, we’re all about to go to college, and this event is perfect for networking, getting your name out there and expanding into different careers you may not have known you wanted to do.”

“The students want to be here,” said Summerour. “They want to network and they want to talk with these employers about their opportunities after graduation. The students sign up, dress to impress and bring their resumes, and the employers bring the opportunities to them. It’s the best first impression they can do and employers are hiring on the spot. We’re just providing a platform.”