Discovering Opportunities
Mental health has become a popular topic thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Awareness, interest, engagement, and need for mental health services has risen greatly. Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) partnered with the Appalachian Children Coalition and Memorial Health Service to offer a positive opportunity for area high school students- Discover Mental Health Day.
Forty two students attended from nine different high schools; Belpre, Beallsville, Frontier, Marietta, Monroe, Parkersburg, River, Warren, and Waterford. Ten different stations, led by professionals from ten different local organizations, were offered. Students had a chance to visit multiple stations and learn about different mental health career opportunities through each station. Organizational partners who led stations included Appalachian Children Coalition, Marietta College Health & Wellness and the Music Therapy Department, Life & Purpose Behavioral Health, Hopewell Counseling, Integrated Services for Behavioral Health, Memorial Health System Behavioral Health, The Right Path for Washington County, Washington County Behavioral Health Board, and Washington County Family and Children First Council.
Frontier eleventh grader Maquelah Walker shared, “I didn’t realize how many careers there were involving mental health. This whole experience really opened my eyes that there are more jobs available to me than what I had initially planned!”. And Suzy Zumwalde, Marietta College Health & Wellness Counselor, reflected, “I thought today was great, talking to high school students in our region that have a passion to pursue a career in behavioral health. I was excited to be part of the day, share my experience as a counselor, and provide support and encouragement to these students.”
Building Bridges to Careers offers various “Discover Days” throughout the school year for students to explore careers in fields or industries such as accounting, manufacturing, mental health, entrepreneurship, engineering, and law enforcement. If you have a high school student interested in exploring a career opportunity or are a business or organization interested in helping students connect to career pathways check-out bb2careers.org or email them at info@bb2careers.org.