“Me today, me tomorrow” was the mantra of the morning at Lehighton Area High School on Thursday.

Over the course of several hours, high school students participated in three different sessions during which they heard from representatives of various organizations and businesses. The speakers shared information about jobs currently available to students and/or jobs that would be available in the future.

Gretchen Laviolette, the district’s director of instructional technology and curriculum development and organizer of the event, started the program last year as a way to provide students with information that will help them be successful in their lives.

Last year’s event focused on durable, or soft, skills such as time and stress management, personal finance, goal setting and cultural diversity. This year the focus was on jobs for today and jobs for the future.

Many different organizations were present from military personnel representing the Marines, Navy and Air Force, to health care providers from both St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Girvin Janicki, manager of Lehighton’s Walmart Supercenter, and Chrissy Mayernik, owner of CTC Manufacturing, were two other representatives who talked about employment opportunities that their businesses provide to people of all ages and abilities.

Lastly, some of LASD’s personnel participated, including Rebecca Karpowicz to talk about human resources, and school police officers Sean Smith and Bejtullah Mehmeti to talk about law enforcement.

Laviolette was grateful for all of the support that was provided from the 25 different companies that were represented as well as the high school staff and administration and, most importantly, the students.

“I am blown away by the positive event that took place today,” she said. “It is an honor to bring this opportunity to our high school students and it would not have been possible without the support of the presenters. The feedback that I have received from the students about the knowledge that was shared by the speakers is even better than I could have hoped for.”

It probably also didn’t hurt, Laviolette added, that Nicole Collier, from Lhh Learn and Play Childcare Center, handed out candy and Play-Doh.

“To each and every one of the speakers, whether you were mentioned by name or not, please know how much you are appreciated,” Laviolette said. “Lehighton and our surrounding area is a great place because of people like you. Our students are lucky to have you as a resource and, perhaps, future employer.”

If any organizations or businesses are interested in participating in an event in the future, they are encouraged to reach out to Laviolette at glaviolette@lehighton.org.