Business careers can be confusing for many high school students, with pathways that are not specialized in most business classes. To help students out, Mrs. Singh, the business teacher at Clark, hosted the first ever business CTE (Career and Technical Education) Expo at Clark, introducing students to various experts in thirteen pathways and businesses, ranging from city halls to small businesses in their respective fields. She hopes this will become an annual tradition and event to help students at Clark.
Mrs. Singh, third year teacher (Business Foundation and Law 1-2, Social Media Marketing and Communications 3-4) at Clark, hosted the Business Expo on Friday, November 3rd, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with tables set up outside the auditeria. Since last year, she has worked persistently with the administration to get all of the professionals and business owners on board with the idea and made sure the event would run as smoothly as possible. “I had a lot of support from administration and the CTE department,” Mrs. Singh said. “The students were very willing to be a part of the planning team.”
Most of the work was done over two months and went smoothly, aside from some complications. “There were some last-minute sign-ups, last-minute cancellations, and other things we had to take care of the day of, and as a small group it was difficult to divide the work between us,” Lilit Manusyants said. Even through these hardships, the planning team was able to create a wonderful event for the students to attend.
Students had the chance to go to the Expo with their classes and speak to professionals, along with internship and volunteer opportunities. Some of the participants that attended were Glendale’s local business owners, like Margo Kazaryan, an attorney at law in Kazaryan and Harutyunyan Law Firm, and Aileen Chase, co-owner and founder of Pump & Splash LLC.
Both Kazaryan and Harutyunyan were willing to answer any questions that students had. “I’m really glad I was able to talk to them,” senior Serly Bedrosian said. “Ms. Kazaryan was very well-spoken and had a clear passion for her work.”
Aileen Chase had a table at the event completed with two water pumps for display. She and her husband built this company together after their prototype pump helped entertain their kids for hours during the summer. They built a variety of pumps and together launched “Pump & Splash,” getting hired out to parties, church events, and functions all over Los Angeles. Students had the opportunity to speak to her about the business side of her practice, and how she went from having a prototype in her garage to a professional company.
Mrs. Singh and the planning committee saw this event as a big success. Students were given amazing advice and suitable opportunities for internships within their career pathways. However, as with everything, Mrs. Singh believes “anything successful can be improved upon.”
