LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) - Area students gained some great insight on what the job of their future might be at this year’s Live Oak High School Career Day. The goal - to get High School students, and the visiting 7^th and 8^th grade students from Live Oak Middle School, Manzanita School, Encinal and Avid, thinking about what they want to do with their lives after graduation.

It has been a tradition now for over 15 years at Live Oak High School to host Career Day, organized by the men and women of LOHS counseling and career department. The event occurs every other year due to its sheer size. Co-organizer and LOHS counselor Joanna Alvarado says, “It’s not just a college and career fair – its two big components. It’s the classroom presentations and a partnership with the ROP,” she explains, “And the community and career research.”

Approximately 120 presenters and alumni from multiple professions were on campus to speak to over 700 students that attended the fair. Topic included what their jobs consist of, direction on how to get into various fields, answering questions and even providing hands-on demonstrations. Presentations on specific fields, such as careers in Radiology, took place in the classrooms, while colleges, community resources and military were located inside the Gym. First responders, such as the Live Oak Fire Department and Alumni and Officer Hilda Velasco and her K-9 Kairo from the Santa Clara PD, were also on hand to demonstrate the many facets of their positions.

A highlight for many of the students were the ROP programs that LOHS currently offers to its students in coordination with the Sutter County Superintendent of Schools. A massive food truck where ROP students learn to prepare food and the ins and outs of the restaurant biz, in partnership with local restaurants like Esteban’s in Live Oak and Granzella’s in Willows, handed out free pizza that they made to the waves of students visiting each booth.

Also, wildly popular were the ROP programs Tri-County Advanced Manufacturing traveling trailer built by the Sutter County Superintendent of Schools. Outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3-D printers, CNC mills, CNC lathe and a CNC plasma table for welding and cutting, instructor Aaron Boyd says, “This is the first of its kind (trailer). There is no other in the country that has advanced manufacturing (traveling trailers)” and that it is in the first year of operation. He continues, “This is equipment that most schools can’t afford to have, especially in our area. So, it gives the schools a buffet – a taste of different things they can do.” Students got to actually use a welding/cutting torch under his supervision.

Santa Clara PD Officer and Live Oak High Alumni, Hilda Velasco, accompanied by her K-9 partner Kairo was there to share information on careers in law enforcement. When asked how she felt about being able to come back to be a part of LOHS career day she said, “I haven’t been here in years but it feels great! It feels awesome to give back to the high school that I came to.”

The day culminated with a lunch for all the presenters catered by Esteban’s of Live Oak. Overall, the students responded positively to the event and felt that it was a highly informative and fun way to discover what they could become in the future.