Volunteer and Job Fair

On November 19, 2024, the volunteer and job fair came to Northwest to involve students in finding organizations they can work or volunteer for. 

The volunteer and job fair is an event where local organizations all come together at Northwest and talk to students about finding work or volunteering for the greater good and Silver Cord volunteer hours. Volunteering is a great opportunity to give back to the community, and also to help out with any jobs that you see yourself in in the future. 

One of many organizations there was the Des Moines Arts Festival. A representative from the organization claimed, “So, we are a free festival that focuses on bringing artists from around the country to our downtown area. We have free music. We have food vendors, we have a kid zone and we have a film festival. And we are just here supporting or promoting our volunteer program.” This is a great way to get immersed in music culture if any student’s future path leads to a music job. 

Another station that was there was the Living History Farms. A representative stated, “I think it’s a really good way for people to get professional experience in a lot of different ways. We do a lot of work with children, with culture, with history, so it’s a really good exposure for that. Kind of whatever direction you choose to go after high school and in your future careers, just having that background of cultural awareness and experience with working with kids, working with other people.” Like what was claimed before, it is a great way to get involved with helping with children or any job in the history field, and is a great way to learn about agriculture, the history of Iowa and the world as a whole. 

Another station was the Waukee Area Christian Services. Their representative claimed, “It’s basically the food pantry. And we’re looking for team volunteers. We need a lot… well right now, we’re serving about 500 families a month with food. So that tells you how important it is in Waukee right now. It’s very big, and it just keeps growing and growing and growing,”

One of the last booths that was there was the Blank Park Zoo. Their representative expressed, “The mission of the zoo is to inspire an appreciation of a natural world through conservation, education, research and recreation and conservation of our natural spaces, our environment. Making sure that the animals here and afar have habitat space that they need to live with is very important to me.” 

Altogether, there were many volunteer and job opportunities for the students at Northwest High School that will benefit the future of most students there and also the community.