Southern State brings back Kids Career Encounter for grades 4-8

Southern State Community College is reopening a young student pipeline into health care, business, technology and other careers with Kids Career Encounter, a two-day program set for June 23 and 24 at Central Campus in Hillsboro.

The program is open to students entering grades 4 through 8, with registration already open. Families can choose a morning session, an afternoon session or the full day, and each session includes two career explorations. The cost is $25 per session per student, and lunch will be provided for students who stay all day.

At Central Campus, 100 Hobart Drive in Hillsboro, students will move through hands-on activities tied to Southern State programs and real-world career paths. The lineup includes biology, math, business, leadership and improv, health sciences and nursing, computer science, social sciences and mental health. Southern State said the sessions are designed to show children how classroom subjects connect to jobs they may one day hold.

That emphasis matters in Adams County, where families often have fewer local enrichment options than larger metro areas. Southern State’s campuses serve Adams, Brown, Clinton, Fayette and Highland counties, giving rural students a nearby chance to see careers up close before high school course choices and job planning begin to narrow their paths.

The biology session will focus on science as a process and how biological research affects daily life and the future. Math students will take on interactive challenges showing how numbers connect to real jobs. In business, children will make money decisions, manage a salary, pay bills and think about inflation and household expenses. Leadership and improv will focus on creativity, teamwork and public speaking confidence.

The health sciences and nursing session will introduce students to how nurses care for people and work on a health care team, while computer science will let them explore programming, robots and online safety. Southern State’s inclusion of social sciences and mental health adds another layer, linking the program not just to technical jobs but to careers that touch family stability, education and community well-being.

Southern State, founded in 1975, is marking its 50th anniversary in 2025-26, and the return of Kids Career Encounter fits that milestone by putting community-facing learning front and center. The college has offered the program before, including June 24-25, 2025, and a broader June 24-27, 2024 version, showing the event has become a recurring part of its outreach to local families.

Elizabeth Burkard, Southern State Community College’s director of marketing, is the press-contact for the event. Spaces are limited, and the college is signaling that families interested in early career exposure will need to sign up soon.