High school students from Garfield and Pitkin counties could discover their future career Tuesday, during the annual GlenX Career Expo, said Jayne Poss, the expo director.

“We highlight the career opportunities offered in our valley,” Poss said. “Through internships, apprenticeships, summer jobs and volunteer opportunities, students can explore different career fields and determine if they like the experience.”

Returning to an in-person format, the expo will be hosted at Glenwood Springs High School. Splitting the expo into two sessions, the first will cater to GSHS students, and the second draws in students from Aspen, Basalt, Roaring Fork, Bridges and Yampah Mountain high schools.

Activities are slated to include an interactive audio lab hosted by Paragon Systems Integration, an “escape room” interactive electricity lab by Encore Electric and dozens of tables designed to introduce students to potential career fields within the Roaring Fork Valley.

This year’s effort to recruit keynote speakers was led by the GlenX student committee, Poss said.

“The student committee asked for speakers closer to their age,” Poss explained. “They asked us to bring in people, who are recently out of high school, to talk about how they discovered their careers.”

The 2022 expo keynote speakers include: Aspen Center for Environmental Studies Naturalist Sam Blair, Mountain Family Health Centers Medical Assistant Brisamar Lopez and Paragon Systems Integration Technician Cameron Fiscus.

“Sam was on a college track,” Poss said. “Brisamar graduated from high school, took a gap year, and is now pursuing a degree at Colorado Mountain College. Cameron graduated high school at 16, then took a number of jobs before discovering Paragon.”

The speakers, all in their 20s, each took a different path toward finding their career, Poss explained. By presenting each of their stories, she said GlenX hopes to convey the idea there are numerous avenues to success.

In the past, leaders of industry and business were brought in to talk about various hurdles they cleared before reaching their lofty positions. But following two years of uncertainty created by the pandemic, Poss said the biggest question on students’ minds was “what am I supposed to do next?”

The GlenX Career Expo was founded about seven years ago to help students answer that exact question. With a business directory of nearly 150 local partners, the expo seeks to pair an upcoming labor force with those industries willing to invest in the Western Slope’s future.

“Many of these jobs train in-house,” Poss said. “There are many positions that students can enter at a high-school entry level. And there are opportunities for kids on the college track as well. The career expo is intended to spark some ideas about their post-secondary training options.”

Reporter Ike Fredregill can be reached at 970-384-9154 or by email at ifredregill@postindependent.com.