Benjamin Navarro, Grace College admissions liaison for Latino recruitment, is providing information about college and career opportunities to Warsaw Community High School students. Photo was taken at the Westminster Hall Building at Grace College. Photo provided.

By LORENA OPLINGER
Guest Writer

A group of volunteers and representatives from local colleges and businesses are hosting and organizing one of the biggest and most important educational and culturally diverse events for students and their families in Kosciusko County.

The College and Career Expo is an event targeted to current high school students and prospective college students in the area. This event will be at 5 p.m. Friday, May 7, in downtown Warsaw. It will be hosted by TodosJuntos in partnership with Grace College, Ivy Tech Community College, Warsaw Community Schools, Zimmer-Biomet, and a few other businesses in the community.

According to Benjamin Navarro, Grace College admissions liaison for Latino recruitment, this event seeks “to inform the students of educational and career opportunities available in our community and to expose them to the resources available to help them get there.”

“Our mission is to serve our local student base,” said Allyn Decker, vice chancellor at Ivy Tech’s Warsaw location. “I want the students to know that if they want to stay in this community and start their career after high school, we are the quickest way to do that. We can get them credentialed quickly and inexpensively, and get them into a career ready to help them thrive.”

Ivy Tech Community College is considered a state institution. It’s the largest and singly accredited community college in the nation. It serves 90,000 students nationwide and currently employs 5,000 staff members in over 30 locations.

According to Roberto Perez-de-Frias, global operations PMO and change management leader for Zimmer Biomet and board member of TodosJuntos, “We are looking forward to helping open people’s eyes to opportunities, whether that be to trade professions, trade school, college or just developing themselves beyond the high school view they may have.”

“We can all learn from each other, from different cultures, from different backgrounds, from different experiences, and this helps us to be more involved and engaged with each other,” said Magdalena Paredes, Zimmer Biomet human resources coordinator.

The College and Career Expo seeks to bring members of the Latino community together, while providing educational information, guidance, and resources to high school students and their families.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to host the expo as part of the WCDC First Friday event, so that our efforts benefit all high school students and their families,” said Marlene Betances, TodosJuntos board chair. “We hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity.”

Grace College, Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana Tech, Purdue Fort Wayne, The University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, and Indiana University, South Bend, are the colleges and universities participating this year. They are all providing mentors, showcasing their majors, and inspiring students to pursue their dreams of higher education and careers.

Students will receive a food voucher and free guest passes to the Kosciusko Community YMCA. There will also be live entertainment at the event.

This photo was taken during the first College and Career Expo event, organized by TodosJuntos and hosted by Grace College and Ivy Tech Community College, in 2018. A group of Warsaw Community High School students are posing for the photo outside of Ivy Tech’s Warsaw location. Photo provided.