(2025 Career Night | Photo courtesy of Bend-La Pine Schools)
Central Oregon is bustling with economic development, stemming from a variety of factors, including a rapidly growing population, an ever-popular tourism industry, and the efforts of local organizations to promote success. Organizations like EDCO and the Small Business Development Center at COCC help develop startups and, as the name would imply, small businesses, but another key factor rests in the potential of thousands of high school and college students who are looking to enter the next step of their life, but aren’t sure how.
From the local Bend La-Pine School District to colleges and universities like OSU-Cascades and COCC, there are a number of opportunities, events and programs that are dedicated to connecting students and recent graduates with graduate programs, technical training, internships and ultimately, permanent job placement.
Starting in high school, the Bend La-Pine School District is hosting the third annual Life & Career Readiness Night on April 30 from 5-7pm at Caldera High School. The event is planned by student organizers who have invited businesses, nonprofits, public sector employers and trade schools to participate by sharing information about their respective industries and career paths, and connecting students with further opportunities. “The Life & Career Readiness Night is the first in a series of events, designed to showcase a wide variety of opportunities and industries,” said Jack Strycharz, the event’s project manager and Junior at Caldera High School.
While the Life & Career Readiness Night is designed to provide students a general overview of their options post-graduation, the following events are designed to be more specific to certain life paths, including a FAFSA/college readiness night, and a direct-to-employment night.
This helps make sure that no matter a student’s path, they’ll be equipped with the skills to ensure confidence and success. These later events are also more based around connecting students with opportunities, not just in providing information. Students have the chance to walk out with real connections and applications, guiding them into the next chapter of their lives.
Strycharz emphasized that these events partner with Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to provide paths in business, engineering, technology, health sciences and many other industries. Many of these industries can be explored in the classroom as well, creating a simple and easy to follow path for students; take classes to gauge interest, attend the first event to learn more about the industry, and attend a more tailored later event to make real connections and take that next step.
In following years, the Life & Career Readiness Night will rotate between high schools; Summit is next in line for 2027, Mountain View is after that, and Bend High will host the year after. Regardless of location, all district students and families are welcome at every event.
For college students in Central Oregon, there are further opportunities to connect with the professional world, or to continue with higher education.
COCC offers their CAP program, which stands for Careers, Academic Advising, and Placement. CAP is available to all COCC students to provide experienced and professional advice to help each student make informed decisions about their future. “CAP Services at COCC is such a key resource at the college,” says Diane Pritchard, director of the program. “We have a nine-person team that works closely with students to help map out their future goals, covering the steps that they’ll need to take. We meet with students individually to discuss career changes or what’s involved in starting an internship. We offer things like resume-writing guidance to build skills. And we also hold job fairs every year and an annual ‘Transfer Days’ event with university partners to provide networking exposure, along with the resources to be informed and inspired.”
OSU-Cascades offers similar services, including job/internship connections, interview prep, resume assistance, labor-market insights and tailored, one-on-one guidance for any career related question, all within their Career Development Center.
In addition, OSU-Cascades is hosting a number of career related events like career fairs and industry nights, here in Bend, at their Corvallis campus and online, with updates posted on their website.
Another development in connecting students with professional opportunities is presented by a nonprofit called Heart of Oregon Corps (HOC). HOC is dedicated to empowering youth and young adults through employment, job training, education and service to Central Oregon communities. With the goal of career readiness, HOC hires and trains 225 youth ages 16-24 annually in the fields of conservation, construction, childcare and warehousing logistics.
HOC is nearing their funding goal for Central Oregon’s first youth workforce development campus, which will be in Redmond. The new campus, when completed, will provide a central location to receive workforce training, mentorship and a sense of belonging, as students embark on careers prevalent to challenges we face in the region, including construction, childcare, wildfire mitigation and wildlife conservation.
All together, the Central Oregon community is showing a strong commitment to connecting students with professional opportunities, helping create success from potential.
