Photo courtesy of the State Fair of Texas.
This week, hundreds of high school juniors and seniors filled The Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center at Fair Park for Big Tex Next Fest.
The free festival is a program held annually by the State Fair of Texas aimed to empower high school juniors and seniors to build the future they want while addressing their current needs. Students were invited from all over Dallas, but attendees included many schools from the southern area of the city.
For the seventh edition, over 70 industry partners joined to provide services for students, including assistance on financial management, speed mentoring, a resource fair, civic engagement station and lunch and learn panel that shared insights from their individual career journeys.
Daniel Cerda, a lead teacher at the Charmaine and Robert Price Career Institute South. He said what brought him to attend the festival was the exposure it gave his students.
“Bringing them here, it gives them the opportunity to grow, and something they can see as a reality,” Cerda said.
Natalie Hambleton with Marvin E. Robinson School of Business and Management at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center brought her students to the event because of the ongoing networking activities and opportunity.
“They were given the opportunity to have a professional headshot done, so that was going to help them in their job quest,” she said.
Hambleton also highlighted the ability for students to connect with college recruiters and the military.
“You never know, depending on what your job is, and really not depending on what your job is, but you may have to actually create and develop an event like this one day,” she said of Next Fest.
State Fair of Texas Director of Community Affairs Jessica Vitela has one of those jobs. She helped shape what Next Fest is today.
“Our hope is to get these kids together and engage them,” Vitela said, “connect them with opportunities to hope and dreams become a reality.”
She said that the State Fair wants to help the community, specifically the southern sector of Dallas, and Next Fest is just one way.
“A lot of students are not privy, do not have the opportunity to see networking events like this,” Hambleton said. “They don’t get to see themselves in the people who are representing different companies and colleges and institutions. This is a great opportunity. I look forward to seeing it next year.”
