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Meridian High School students considering how to spend their summer found more than the usual restaurant and retail jobs at an in-school fair March 12. Among the opportunities presented by more than a dozen local employers were lifeguarding, child care, assisted living, martial arts, banking, farming and even mortuary science.

The Student Job Fair filled the school’s main entrance during all three lunch periods, giving students ages 14 to 18 time to speak directly with employers. Representatives used displays, handouts and giveaways to attract students and explain available jobs and volunteer positions.

Participating organizations included Area 2 Farms, the City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department, Dude’s Dog House & Spa, the FCCPS Summer Day Care Program, Fifty/50 Martial Arts Academy, High Sierra Pools, JPMorgan Chase Bank, KiPS Family Gymnastics, Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Murphy Funeral Home, StretchLab, The Kensington Falls Church, The Learning Quest and Tuckahoe Recreation Club. A local newspaper also participated.

Meridian Principal Peter Laub called the event a chance to connect students with meaningful employment in their community.

“This is all up to them,” Laub said. “All we’re doing is providing the hallways for the businesses.”

The fair supports Meridian’s broader International Baccalaureate mission of developing well-rounded students prepared for life beyond the classroom. That includes encouraging students to explore careers, build practical skills and consider how their interests might translate into future work.

Bringing employers into the school

The fair grew from a steady stream of requests from businesses and community groups seeking permission to post hiring notices at Meridian.

College and Career Counselor Sheri Mural proposed bringing those employers together in one place so students could meet them face to face. Community Outreach Coordinator Regan Davis then contacted organizations and recruited participants.

Mural said students have responded positively, including those seeking work to help finance their plans after high school. Because the event includes opportunities for students beginning at age 14, it is not limited to seniors approaching graduation.

Mural said she would have benefited from a similar event as a teenager. Without one, she viewed the fast-food restaurant beside her school as the obvious place for students to work. Meridian’s fair, she said, shows students that they have many more ways to earn money and develop skills.

Laub also lacked access to a school job fair. At 14, after his mother told him to knock on doors until someone hired him, he began delivering a local newspaper. He described the work as a valuable introduction to employment that gave him spending money and got him out of the house.

Career planning starts in ninth grade

Meridian’s career preparation extends beyond the annual fair. Students take career-interest surveys in homeroom and use Naviance, a personalized planning platform, to begin building résumés as early as ninth grade.

The platform also provides more than 500 short interviews with professionals. Those videos allow students to examine the range of jobs within an industry rather than assume there is only one path. A student interested in sports, for example, can explore business and health care roles even without pursuing a career as an athlete.

Mural also helps students connect career exploration with college planning. Intended majors can be treated differently during the admissions process depending on the institution, she said, making detailed, college-specific guidance important.

She encourages students to remain open to changing direction. Mural earned an undergraduate biology degree and entered a doctoral program in human genetics because she initially wanted to become a professor. After a year, she realized she enjoyed working with students but not the research pressures of academia. She changed course, earned a master’s degree in higher education administration and built a career advising students.

Her experience demonstrates that students do not need to decide now what they will be doing two decades from now, she said.

Students pursue money, experience and purpose

Sophomore Christopher Turley called the fair a useful way for students actively seeking jobs to find them. He was particularly interested in The Kensington Falls Church, an assisted-living community where he had previously volunteered with his Scout group around Veterans Day.

Fellow sophomore Jack Rasmussen planned to visit Dude’s Dog House & Spa because he likes dogs and, at 16, met the minimum age displayed at its table. Tenth-grader Kenton Scheifele said offering the fair was a good way to help students prepare for their futures.

Clara Pelegrina said she wanted a job to save for a car and use her time for something beyond sports and schoolwork. She explored opportunities with Fifty/50 Martial Arts, The Kensington, a child-care program and a lifeguard-training employer.

The Kensington held special interest for Pelegrina because her family had been investigating housing options for her grandparents. She said working with older adults could help her understand those services while broadening her employment experience. She also described supporting seniors as fulfilling because older people do not always receive the same attention given to children.

Ingrid Slette visited The Kensington, Fifty/50 and KiPS Family Gymnastics. The child-focused opportunity appealed to her most because she enjoys working with children and has related volunteer experience. She also welcomed the prospect of earning additional income.

Sara Hadley was drawn to High Sierra Pools. At 15 and partway through lifeguard certification, she had been waiting to find an employer that could hire someone her age. She said the position could let her make money, work with children and give greater purpose to her summer.

Hadley also said summer employment can teach young people responsibility and help them learn to manage their time and money before adulthood.

Anastacia Gjorgjievski expressed interest in the FCCPS Summer Day Care Program because she frequently babysits neighbors’ children. She also considered a front-desk position at Fifty/50 Martial Arts, where her older brother kickboxes and where she took lessons in sixth grade.

The martial arts academy’s evening flexibility appealed to her because it could allow her to work while continuing to play sports and meet other responsibilities.

Valerie Peacock of Fifty/50 said Meridian students asked thoughtful questions about applications, summer openings and whether jobs could continue into the fall. She told students that the academy adjusts schedules around competitive sports, clubs, extracurricular activities and schoolwork.

A funeral home draws steady interest

The day’s most unusual recruiting display belonged to Murphy Funeral Home, whose representatives discussed funeral services and mortuary science while a hearse sat outside the school.

Davis said the table attracted a consistent stream of students, including a group of five gathered around representatives dressed in black. She saw the field as a potentially eye-opening option because of the extensive science involved and the ways students could apply classroom learning to a career they might not otherwise consider.

The interest captured the larger purpose of the fair: giving students direct access to familiar summer jobs while introducing them to possibilities they may never have imagined.