Career Quest - January 2025

10th grade students from around the New River Valley, Roanoke Valley, and Alleghany will visit the arena to learn about jobs, work-based learning opportunities, and more!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

It is no secret that businesses throughout the nation are in need of talent. K-12 schools in the New River Valley, Roanoke Valley, and Alleghany Highlands in Virginia produce over 4,000 graduates a year. Our goal is to keep them here.

Career Quest takes place over two (2) days at the Berglund Center where students explore careers for them once they graduate high school. Schools are scheduled to arrive every 25 minutes and students move through three (3) zones where they interact with businesses and talk to them about job opportunities, learn about how they can potentially work while going to school, and what kind of careers are waiting for them after they walk across the stage. Students will have 25 minutes in each zone, and with over 60 businesses to see, there’s no time to waste.

Students will receive their Career Quest Passport that will provide them information to share with their parents, grandparents, counselors, and more after the event. You can preview the passport here!

FAQs

Is this just another boring field trip?

Absolutely not! But that is up to you.

In the zones there will be dozens of businesses that are there to show you what they do, how they do it, and talk to you about your future. Some have cool experiments you can take part in, some have equipment for you to use, and others might even talk to you about starting work with them while you are in high school.

Graduation is coming sooner than you think, and you don’t have to go to college or move to another city to make it big!

How do the schools get to the Berglund Center?

A schedule has been created for the two-day event that a different school(s) arriving every 25 minutes between 9:00 AM and 12:30 PM. Depending on the number of students at each school attending, larger schools may have 2 to 3 different groups of students arriving at different times.

Once students arrive, they will proceed to Zone 1, where you will have 25 minutes to explore the businesses that are there and talk to them about their jobs. After 25 minutes, a buzzer will sound and students will move to Zone 2 for another 25 minutes. Then Zone 3. After 25 minutes in Zone 3, students will load the bus and head back to their home school.

Do the students get anything while they are there?

YES! Students are provided with an official Career Quest drawstring backpack to hold any information or goodies they collect from the businesses in attendance.

Students also receive their Career Quest Passport, which is a booklet designed for students to take home, show their parents, and use the information to help them continue thinking about their future. This booklet has QR codes that go directly to our Career Quest website for students and parents to learn more about the careers in the region.

What do the teachers do while students are at Career Quest?

Teachers are, of course, chaperones, for the event, but it is also time for them to learn! Teachers can talk to businesses just like students, learn more about careers for their students, as well as connect with contacts for future activities.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

The following school districts all participate in Career Quest and bus their students to the event based on a very precise schedule! Your school may end up arriving at the same time as another, so don’t be surprised to see students from another district in the zones!