On Tuesday Altona and District Chamber of Commerce partnered with W.C. Miller Collegiate for the first ever Local Career Showcase.

Grade 11 and 12 students from the Altona high school, as well as MCI students from Gretna, were able to listen to sessions and tour booths set up by local businesses. Post-secondary education information was also presented.

Stephanie Harris is General Manager for the Altona and District Chamber of Commerce. She explained that students may not recognize the career options that can be

Left to Right; Shania Ginter and Carissa Dimarco are high school students who attended the local information sessionsfound locally.

"A lot of our local businesses have been talking about how they require skilled employees, and so we often see that disconnect that maybe after students graduate from university or community colleges, they don't understand that opportunities are available to them here in Altona... so we're just trying to bridge that gap."

Harris noted students were asking good questions and making connections with local business representatives. She added that student participation was good, and that the Chamber is considering having the event again next year.

Karissa Dimarco is a grade 11 student at W.C. Miller Collegiate who attended the event. She chose to focus on sessions based around nursing or policing.

"I like my community and helping it as best as I can," she explained.

Dimarco added the Local Career Showcase made it easy to ask questions and get a sense of what courses she should take in the future.

Shania Ginter, a grade 12 student at MCI, agreed that the sessions gave her an opportunity to see what the local community has to offer. She attended the Skills Canada and CFAM sessions.

"I think it's really important because then we get to connect locally with some business around here and we can learn what they do and then we can kind of get a sense for what we want to do," said Ginter.

In the future, Ginter would like to run her own hair-dressing salon.