October 15, 2025
Hundreds of Prince George High School students were able to get valuable face time with dozens of local employers and learn more about educational opportunities during the school's second career fair. This year’s fair is the first since early 2024, as the previously scheduled fair in February of 2025 was canceled due to inclement weather.
SEE MORE PHOTOS: PGCPS on Flickr
The school's gymnasium was the venue for the morning-long event on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, with students traveling between tables staffed by various local businesses, state agencies, military representatives, and more. Locally operated businesses were well represented during the career fair, including Carraway Glass, Service Center Metals, Standard Motor Products, Strosnider Chevrolet, and even the popular local baseball team, the Tri-City Chili Peppers, were among the employers making connections with students. In addition to the opportunities to interface with business leaders and managers, students were also able to explore trades and pathways to the U.S. armed forces.
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“We want all of our students to step out of our doors for graduation and have an actionable plan with what their next steps are going to look like.” PGCPS Coordinator of Career and Technical Education Mrs. Ashton Girolmo said. “Doing events like this and our college fair early on into the school year helps expose students to some of those different opportunities, especially ones that are available right here in their own community. Throughout the course of the school year and their high school experience, we have additional ways they can engage with these business partners on deeper levels, which is leading to job opportunities for our students either right after high school graduation or after college.”
To further spark engagement and encourage students to have meaningful conversations with the guest presenters, they took part in a bingo-style challenge. During their time at the fair, students used their bingo card, which included a mix of questions to ask and activities to take part in, and received marks from presenters throughout the event. Completed bingo cards were entered into a drawing for prizes as they exited the fair.
VCU Health's LIFEEVAC medical helicopter takes off from Prince George High School's driver's education range following their attendance at the school's career fair. (PGCPS Photo)
This week's career fair, along with a similar college fair event featuring over a dozen colleges and university representatives on site at Prince George High School on Monday, October 13, 2025, is part of Prince George High School's Career Readiness Initiative. This initiative is a coordinated effort to help students explore, plan, and take actionable steps toward their post-graduation goals, whether that means enrollment, employment, or enlistment. Within the initiative, there are two stages: an exploration stage and a later preparation and action stage. Events like career fairs, college fairs, and field trips to the campuses of Brightpoint Community College and Rowanty Technical Center provide opportunities to explore options for their future and connect what they're learning at school with future opportunities.
Later during the spring semester, the preparation and action stage will see those students entering the workforce after graduation continuing their readiness journey through events such as reverse career fairs, where students showcase themselves to employers, and workforce signing days, a celebratory event where students officially "sign" with local companies to begin their careers.
The year-long Career Readiness Initiative aims to ensure that every Prince George student graduates with a clear plan, along with the confidence, connections, and credentials needed to succeed, regardless of which of the 3E's they choose: Enrollment, Employment, or Enlistment.
“Many of our employers here are looking for students possessing those soft skills, including communication, critical thinking, and especially leadership,” Mrs. Girolmo explained. “So for us, it’s been very important to try and embed those qualities within our students, within our school as a whole, and within our Career and Technical Education-focused courses. Our CTE classes are focused on workplace readiness skills and embedding these concepts within their content specifically.”
To see more images from the high school's career fair, visit the division's Flickr channel at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgcps.
Businesses, both those attending this week's job fair and those interested in getting involved in PGCPS workforce readiness initiatives, are encouraged to make plans to attend the N.B. Clements Junior High School Career Fair on November 14, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information on how to get a table for your business, please contact Dr. Steven Bhatt at [email protected].