Dexter schools say March career fair drew about 1,000 students and 117 presenters

Caitlin Monpin, career development facilitator for Dexter Community School District, told the Board of Education the district—s March 10 career fair attracted “approximately 1,000 students in attendance” across grades 9–12 and featured about 117 presenters representing all 16 career clusters the district tracks. Monpin said the event was designed to connect students with professionals, highlight how classroom competencies translate to careers and create mentorship and internship opportunities.

Monpin presented exit-survey results by grade: 46% of seniors rated presentations “excellent” and 50% “good”; roughly 31% of juniors rated them excellent and 60.7% good; sophomores and freshmen also skewed toward excellent/good responses. She said presenters included retired military aviators, a special agent in homeland security, a university director of environmental health, forensic scientists, physical therapists, construction project managers and several attorneys.

Monpin said the district is building on the event with operational tweaks: streamline speaker check-in, refine student sign-up forms, limit total presenters to ensure adequate space and AV, add teacher notes for presenters unfamiliar with working with adolescents, and create elective panel sessions for high-interest fields such as health sciences and criminal justice. She noted the district is using School Links (career/college planning software) and individual family meetings to support postgraduation planning.

Board members praised the effort. A parent and local photographer, Melanie Reyes, volunteered post-event to provide students a photography workshop, an example Monpin cited as evidence of positive community ripple effects. The district plans to use survey feedback and School Links data to refine next year—s scheduling and rotation process.