Over 2,000 students from across Montana spent Tuesday in Great Falls doing something most of them don't get to do on a typical school day — welding, performing chest compressions, and cracking cybersecurity puzzles.
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The fifth annual Worlds of Work event brought together 27 schools and 70 local and regional employers across the campuses of the University of Providence and Great Falls College-MSU. Five of the participating schools are local. More than 200 volunteers helped guide students through the day.
For eighth grader Peyton Zimmer, the format itself was part of the appeal.
"I like that it's outdoors and you get to walk around. And it's not just like you have to go to each station. It's like preference," Zimmer said.
Organizers describe the event as a career fair on steroids — designed not to push students toward a specific path, but to show them what is possible right here in Montana. For eighth grader Mason Reid, the welding exhibit was the highlight of the day.
"I like to sweat and stuff — the wheelbarrow race, the welding," Reid said.
Reid says he has always been drawn to hands-on work — and today may have helped him see a future in it.
"It's a good paying job, and I've always liked doing stuff like that — working with mechanics and stuff," Reid said.
Reid says he wants to stay in Montana after graduation — or somewhere close.
Worlds of Work is made possible through a partnership between Central Montana Works, the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, Great Falls College-MSU, Great Falls Public Schools, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, United Way of Cascade County, and the University of Providence.
