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Narrative:  Market Day was a 3-day career fair/exposition, which had several different facets. There were two sessions daily, with a group of students going through the Market Day during each of the sessions. On Monday, all high school seniors in the Jackson-Madison County School System attended, on Tuesday, all tenth grades, and on Wednesday, all eighth graders. Over 300 business and industry representatives participated over the three days.

The sessions each included the following:

An Opening Session that included a keynote presentation by Shawntell Smith, Miss America 1996, whose platform was School-to-Work.

A traditional career fair, with at least 40 booths and exhibitors.

A session in one of the 7 career clusters, which each included a panel discussion with at least three people employed in that cluster. We asked our cluster chairmen to make sure that they make every effort to have representatives from all levels of their cluster, not just managers.

Prior to Market Day, all students were given a booklet with job listings for each cluster, and did some preliminary work on which areas of interest they had. They pre-registered for their cluster. After their Market Day visit, they made oral presentations to their class on what they learned about their career cluster choice, so that students got information from all cluster areas.

It Works!  Market Day was evaluated and received excellent reviews from the students, particularly the eighth and tenth graders. Most of the 300 businesses have volunteered to participate again next year. In addition, the Chamber is editing a video that will be sent to other school systems in the State so that they can replicate the program if they wish.

Contact:
Shirley Jones, Education Coordinator
Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 1904
Jackson TN 38302-1904
(P): 901 423-2200
(F): 901 424-4860
E-mail: sajones@jacksontn.com