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Students Embrace Mentoring Opportunities at the annual CKAA Career Fair

1/29/2025

On January 29th the Kingswood auditorium and dining hall were a hive of activity as 70 career mentors and nearly 200 juniors and seniors came together. The event, which has been held in this format since 2014, is sponsored by the Cranbrook Kingswood Alumni Association, and involves outreach to local alumni and friends who serve as mentors in an evening of one-on-one conversations about educational paths, career choices and more.

Students brought great enthusiasm to the event, using the program that detailed job descriptions and educational backgrounds to map out their visit. Faculty members provided support, encouraging students to speak to a wide variety of alumni career mentors.

Upper School Head Noël Dougherty was well satisfied with the result, commenting after the event, “To have those two historic spaces filled with alumni and students always moves me. The conversations are rich and reciprocal, and the energy could power Cranbrook’s boilers for a month. I have spoken with several children today who I saw last night, and each one is expressing such appreciation for Cranbrook Schools as a whole it is overwhelming. Comments like…they were nervous but worked through it…couldn’t believe they had access to professionals like that…so cool to have them all be CK alums…can’t wait until I can come back and do this as an adult.”

Dean of Faculty Jacob Hazard '92 agreed, noting that the buzz among alumni as they departed the fair was match by that of students the following day , saying “Last night might have been the best Career Fair I’ve ever seen. Every seat was filled nearly the entire time, and the students looked alive and engaged even when waiting “on the sidelines” for their next conversation. Chatting them up, I heard lots of enthusiastic stories about overcoming nervousness, feeling like an adult, and earnest grappling with the opportunity and intimidation about facing the future. Super valuable experience, and the students were invigorated. The alumni, too, whom I spoke with were extremely impressed with our students and spoke energetically about how enjoyable they found it to connect with the young adults here.”

For additional photos from the evening, click here

If you would like to serve as a volunteer at a future career fair, offer a Senior May Project internship or mentor CK students in other ways, click here.

If you want information about what is involved in serving as a field supervisor for Senior May Project, click here.

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