The Wagner Community Memorial Hospital-Avera sponsored a 13th annual 8th Grade Career Fair on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at the Wagner National Guard Armory. Partnering with the South Dakota Department of Health, the event also included “Camp Med Lanes”, which featured several different healthcare career choices. The event was coordinated by hospital employee, Connie Kaufman, BSN, RN and hosted by Kelly Soulek, BSN, RN.

Eighth graders must select career paths for high school registration; thus, the goal of the career fair is to expose students to the wide variety of educational opportunities and career paths available to them. The emphasis was handson activities which were directly related to the promoted careers. A variety of career choices were present, including exhibitors from local and regional businesses as well as South Dakota colleges. Students were able to walk through an innovative, inflatable brain; learn coping skills and 988 resource, while constructing a calming jar; handson banking skills; demonstration of equipment used by a lineman; stepping inside an ambulance, as well as watching a mechanical chest compression device; have a body composition done; practice CPR skills and demonstrate removing skin staples and stitches in addition to many other hand-on opportunities.

Approximately 457 students participated from 21 area schools. The schools that attended were: Andes Central, Armour, Avon, Bon Homme, Burke, Corsica-Stickney, Ethan, Freeman, Gregory, Hanson, Irene-Wakonda, Marty Indian School, Menno, Mitchell Christian, Mount Vernon, Plankinton, Platte-Geddes, Sanborn, Scotland, Tripp-Delmont and Wagner.

Exhibitors included: Avera Home Medical Equipment-Yankton branch; Charles Mix Electric; Commercial State Bank; Dakota Wesleyan University Nursing; Peasants Forever; Platte Health Center-Avera; SD Division of Behavioral Health & Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Services; School Psychologists Sioux Falls Fire & Rescue; SDSU Extension 4-H Advisor and Health Educator; SD Game Fish & Parks; SD Geological Survey; SD Highway Patrol; Wagner Indian Health Service; Wagner-Lake Andes Ambulance; West River Area Health Education Center; West River Health Science Center and Wagner Community Memorial Hospital-Avera.

Thank you to the City of Wagner and Wagner Community School for the use of the Armory and for assistance in preparation/clean up; Fort Randall Telephone for providing wifi and Buche Foods for donating water for the exhibitors and students. An exhibitor meal was sponsored by Wagner Community Memorial Hospital-Avera. We would like to extend a special thanks to the exhibitors for the interesting, interactive displays and to the schools for bringing the students. Thank you to both the exhibitors and schools for the abundance of support to make the career fair a success!

Any business, agency or educational entity that would like to be included next year as a career fair exhibitor should contact Connie Kaufman at the Wagner Community Memorial Hospital-Avera at 384-7329.