KALAMA — From the hilltop at Kalama Middle-High School, students see massive vessels passing by on the Columbia River, laden with grain, chemicals and other products bound for international markets from the Port of Kalama. But even though the port is visible from the high school, many students said they weren’t aware of the myriad career opportunities available there.
The Port of Kalama and Kalama School District are hoping to raise students’ awareness of the 1,100 jobs connected to the port, to entice more students to think locally when envisioning their careers. It’s an effort to slow the drain of youth and brainpower that rural communities across America struggle with.
The port and school district partnered for “Kalama Days,” which they hope will become an annual event. It included a career fair Thursday following up on bus tours of the port that students took last week. Thursday morning, students listened to a presentation from four Kalama High School alumni who now work at the port’s office or in one of the port-related jobs. “You don’t have to go far to be great” was the message of the day.
Every year dozens of local students graduate high school, leave the area and never come back, noted Port Marketing Manager Liz Newman.
“We’re trying to keep the kids local if we can. We’d love to have them stay in Kalama, and we want them to understand the job opportunities we have here,” Newman said.
Kalama Superintendent Eric Nerison added, “When you live in a small town, it’s easy to get tunnel vision” and think you have to leave for opportunity. “This is a little port city and our kids need to know that, because there’s a lot here at home.”
Representatives from 28 businesses and government agencies filled the Kalama High School gym Wednesday to answer questions and describe their companies. They included Steelscape, RSG Forest Products, the Temco Grain Terminal and Northwest Innovation Works, the developer of a proposed methanol plant. County public works, firefighters, EMTs and U.S. Army recruiters joined, too.
Students were asked to fill out questionnaires about companies and careers, and Principal Guy Strot encouraged them to practice their handshakes with eye contact for meeting employers. And he threw in the promise of an ice cream party for whatever grade was the most professional at the career fair (based on an employer poll afterwards). The message seemed to get through.
“I’ve been impressed with all the students. … They’ve been very well-prepared with looking into my eyes and shaking my hands,” said Rob Rich, vice president of marine services at Shaver Transportation. “We were very surprised and gratified that they were well prepared.”
For the students, the surprise came in hearing about the different port-related job prospects that exist in Kalama, and the new jobs in the pipeline for the future.
“It’s just amazing to see everything our small town has,” said Macey Sykes, a junior and Kalama native. Sykes said she enjoyed hearing how some port employees climb the career ladder at the port, citing the example of Port Executive Director Mark Wilson, who started out pulling weeds as a high school student there and now is the highest-paid port official.
“It’s really cool to see stories of people working their way up,” she said.
“And it’s cool that you don’t have to be an adult to start working,” added Annette Alston, a senior. A few of Alston’s peers already have jobs at the port, including Trevor Peterson, a senior who started worked at RSG one summer as a 16-year-old.
Trevor said he helps to clean up the saw shop at the lumber company, but after graduation he wants to learn how to use more of the machines. Eventually, he would like to be an instrumentation technician, he said.
While some students were excited about the port-related job prospects, others still had their eye on moving away, like Macey, who said she wanted to experience the world outside of her hometown. And Brenna Weden, a junior who said she will seek sunnier weather in Arizona. Even so, Weden said she appreciated hearing about the possibility for future growth in Kalama tied to the port and how projects like the port’s future Spencer Creek Business Park or planned McMenamins hotel/restaurant could transform the town into a bustling place.
“It’s crazy. Our town is really little and you don’t really think of it like that,” Weden said.
