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Olentangy High DECA students present 'Find Your Fit' career project, report limited career guidance in district
Summary
Olentangy High School DECA students described their 'Find Your Fit' career development project, reporting that 63% of parents doubt success without college and that only 6% of students said they had received career guidance from the district.
Students from Olentangy High School presented the DECA project "Find Your Fit" to the Olentangy Local School Board on Feb. 20, describing a multi-part career-development effort that included a Career Connection Series, a college-business website and presentations to middle-school students.
"And today we're gonna share with you our DECA project Find Your Fit," said Elena Smith, one of the student presenters. Advisor Eric Wells described DECA as the co-curricular student organization for students interested in careers in business and said the program has become nearly 100% project based.
The student team said they began with secondary research and school surveys. They reported that 63% of Olentangy parents surveyed "doubt their child's success without going to college" and that one-third of students feel parental pressure to attend college. The students told the board only 6% of students said they had received career guidance from Olentangy; the presenters said they partnered with BridgeEd to run a Career Connection Series during flex periods and that high demand led them to extend the series by four weeks, concluding Jan. 29. Participating organizations included Dula Russo Real Estate, OSU Wexner Medical Center and Columbus State.
The student presenters also said 93% of Olentangy students surveyed plan to attend college, and they developed a college-business website aimed at providing reliable program information from students currently enrolled in business programs. "The reason we created this website was obviously for the kids who are set on attending college so that they can make a more educated decision on a college that best fits their wants and needs," a presenter said.
Superintendent Meyer praised the students and emphasized the value of early career exposure. "You want them to at least understand — do I like this, do I not like this? — and the more information you can get people about that, the better choices they're going to be able to make," Meyer said.
The presentation included specific outreach to Liberty Middle School, where the DECA team presented career options to seventh graders. The students said their project produced mentorship, internship and field-trip opportunities for high school students and aimed to create a pipeline to help younger students explore careers earlier.
The board offered informal praise; no board action was required for the presentation.
