Quaker Valley High School students learned about business, finance and information technology from local professionals as part of the district’s Future Ready Academies’ Career Conversations program.
On March 5, about 25 students in grades 9-12 learned from leaders like BNY Mellon investment strategist Matthew Keller, PNC Financial Services early career recruiting advisor LeJune Williams-Clements, Dinsmore & Shohl associate attorney Melissa N. Fann, UPMC IT telemedicine team systems analyst Taylor Belloma and UPMC Health Plan Sitecore product owner Amber Becker.
Quaker Valley career education specialist Amy Keller said the goal of career conversations is to provide students an opportunity to network with professionals in areas of interest.
Experts are able to cover a lot of topics with the young learners, including what inspired them to enter their field, what skills and qualities are necessary to succeed in those areas and what some of the biggest challenges are.
Students can use their participation in the panel discussion as an experience toward their academy credentials.
Three other conversations are being planned this school year. Those will focus on STEM, innovative arts and communication and science and health. A human services panel took place earlier this year.