Hundreds of students attended the CUHSD Career Pathway Expo at Del Mar High School on Wednesday, going around to hear from over 50 representatives from various types of organizations.

According to Dulce Cajero, the College and Career Center Specialist at Del Mar, she and her colleagues began planning for the showcase in the fall by reaching out to known community partners and trying to form new partnerships.

“We want kids to be exposed not just to the four year school, but also to the different trade unions and apprenticeship programs, as well as volunteer experience and different job opportunities,” Cajero said. “We look into programs where kids are very interested. Even though Del Mar led this year, all of the specialists across this district help and support each other by looking up these programs, inviting their own community partners because this is a district event.”

One representative, Kenny Gomez, came to the Career Expo to promote Waterworks Aquatics, a swim school near Del Mar that hires high school students as swim instructors and deck guards.

“We want to provide that opportunity to work,” Gomez said. “[If] people want to be educators, we like to hire them on as swim instructors, and that’s a great way to have their foot in the door for that sort of work. That’s where we find a lot of success with people who want to be able to work with kids.”

Other organizations, like De Anza College, West Valley College, the City of San Jose, the U.S. Army and trade unions, also sent representatives to speak with students about future opportunities in various career paths.

Freshman Akshara Jain, who goes to Leigh High School, said she learned about what colleges offer from the event.

“Knowing there are different fields for architecture and engineering and there are internships that I could get as a freshman over the summer [stood out the most],” Jain said.

Cajero appreciated that students from other schools within the district, like Jain, attended.

“We’re very thankful for [students] coming in because this is a district event, not just [for] Del Mar,” Cajero said. “Just getting at least 10% [of the district’s students] to show up is really good.” 

Reporting by Elliott Yau