San Mateo Union High School District connects students with opportunities

From 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, students and their families can visit the district’s Career Expo at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center and San Mateo High Main Gym to get hands-on learning about high-paying careers from industry experts from more than 50 companies, apprenticeships and programs in the county.

The event, formerly known as Stay in the Bay with $100K, is meant to expose students to lucrative career fields that are achievable without a four-year college degree. Nancy Kane, the district’s career and community service coordinator, and Helen O’Brien, a career technical education coordinator and site sustainability facilitator, said the program name was changed after participants argued a salary of more than $100,000 is needed to live in the Bay Area.

The mission of the event remains the same though. Students will enter a room full of experts from some of the largest employers in the county including the San Francisco International Airport, a main sponsor of the event, Pacific Gas and Electric and Recology. Other representatives include those from local emergency services like police and fire departments, court reporters and trades like mechanics, plumbers, electricians, engineers and landscapers.

Students will also learn about careers in child care and education, hospitality, tourism and recreation, health science and medical technology, the armed forces, business, arts and entertainment and agriculture.

“We feel that students don’t know what all their options are after high school since from a very early age they’ve been told they’re going to college,” Kane said. “We need to expose people to these pathways.”

The event has experienced some pushback given the stigma some experience from not obtaining a college degree, O’Brien said. But the district offers a college-focused fair in the fall and the San Mateo County Community College District will have a presence during this Career Expo as well. And some careers highlighted during the event will require other types of schooling including two-year programs and some pay-to-learn paths.

But four-year college paths or years of school aren’t for everyone, and O’Brien and Kane agreed it’s important for parents to know their child’s interests and help direct them toward respectable and stabilizing career paths.

“As a parent, I think it’s important to know your child and to know what they are interested in and what their interest has been over a number of years. If someone is great with their hands you may not tell them to be an accountant,” O’Brien said. “In the area where we live, there’s such a focus on Silicon Valley. We have Google and we have LinkedIn and Meta. People are thinking they want their child to become the next software engineer but people need to remember that companies like that have people who run the gamut.”

Ultimately, O’Brien and Kane agreed the community largely appreciates and supports the event. As schools stopped offering wood shop or other hands-on trade programs, students have grown less familiar with that line of work, they said, sharing anecdotes about students having little idea of what a plumber or electrician actually does.

Industry professionals have jumped at the opportunity to participate given the need to bring more employees into the workforce, they said. Many industry representatives have participated in the event since it first launched three years ago and others have responded warmly when Kane and O’Brien began reaching out and planning in the fall.

“We really appreciate the support here and it’s all about us helping students,” O’Brien said. “But really it’s helping our community.”

Visit smuhsd.org/Page/12073 to learn more about San Mateo Union High School District’s Career Expo.