Central Sisters All-Female Career Fair Held

This past Saturday Central Sisters, a female youth mentoring program involving the fifth-grade females of Central Elementary School and the high school females at John Marshall High School, held its inaugural all-female career fair. 

The event showcased females in a variety of occupations. The career fair had attendees who are in the education field, the medical field, cosmetology, engineering, secretaries and trade jobs. Representative at each career table provided information to the girls about how to obtain their degrees, licenses or certificates and what each occupation entails every day. The goal of the career fair was to allow the young girls, both elementary and high school, to see the world has many opportunities for females, even in more male-dominant fields. 

Central Elementary School Title 1 teacher Allyson Varlas founded Central Sisters, in 2019 with a goal to promote healthy relationships among females, empower females, and give them experiences they may not receive outside of the school building. Varlas, the fifth-grade girls and the John Marshall girls meet on certain Saturdays from 10:00 am until noon to participate in various activities.  

So far this year, the girls learned to make clay polymer earrings with local businesswoman, Unique Robinson Murphy, of Hazen Handcrafted and they also learned to make holiday cookies with Central’s lead cook, Jessica Snider. 

The girls look forward to meeting every month. The younger girls have been able to learn what high school is like and engage in conversation about what John Marshall has to offer. The John Marshall girls enjoy themselves as well while earning community service hours for various clubs or scholarships. By belonging to Central Sisters, Varlas is also hopeful the high school girls will find a love for education.