By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA – Students at Helena High School got plenty of strong advice from the Shelby County Chamber and business leaders as they participated in an Education Connection program the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 28 inside the HHS media center.

Members from across the business industry, administrators, teachers, students and parents filled three large tables inside the media center as each table represented a different category.

One table represented employability, one represented career opportunities and one represented partnerships.

The goal of each station was to teach students strategies to prepare them for the workforce, steps to strengthen essential skills, discuss partnerships between schools and industry and discuss the value of job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships.

Helena High School senior Jillian Gholson attended the Education Connection event for the first time and said she received a lot of valuable information.

“At the partnerships table, they told us not to be afraid to change our major because if we get in the career or workforce and we decide that that’s not good for us then it’s OK to change it,” Gholson said. “It was good to know that it’s OK to change it and to not be afraid to change your career path.”

Gholson’s plan after high school is to start college at Wallace State to earn her associates degree in nursing and then become a nurse at UAB and hopefully earn her bachelor’s degree.

At Education Connection, she discussed what her favorite categories were.

“Definitely career opportunities or employability because they really taught us about interviews and what companies would look for in a good employee,” Gholson said. “If they were having to interview multiple people what would really stand out and have them say ‘we want her’ or ‘we want him’ and it was just really good.”

For more information on the Shelby County Chamber and future events, visit Shelbychamber.org.