– Photo courtesy of West Central CTE
The Lebanon Police Department released a statement regarding the department’s attendance at a job fair and community expo held in Crawfordsville on April 4, stating that the experience proved successful.
The Lebanon Police Department attended the West Central Career and Technical Education “Student Job Fair and Community Expo” at Crawfordsville High School to connect with students and community members who may hold an interest in joining the law enforcement team in the future. With nearly 1,000 students in attendance from Boone and Montgomery counties, the department received the opportunity to outreach with hundreds of potential future law enforcement and first responder officers.
According to the department, officers utilized the opportunity to connect with juniors and seniors from Western Boone High School, North Montgomery High School, South Montgomery High School and Crawfordsville High School during the event.
“During the event, we had the opportunity to speak with students about careers in law enforcement and how they can prepare themselves for this field,” the department released. “We also highlighted our Lebanon Police Department Explorer program, sharing that eight explorers from our program over the last seven years have been successfully hired as police officers, EMTs/medics, firefighters and corrections officers.”
As a means of engaging the students further, the department hosted a variety of equipment at their table, including uniforms, vests, police radios, evidence boxes and more that the students could explore as they learned more about the law enforcement field, especially the opportunities available in Boone County.
“Kids had a blast trying on some of the tactical equipment at our table,” the department released. “We’re thrilled to see such enthusiasm and interest in public safety professions among our local youth.”
The West Central Career and Technical Education program offers 13 half-day programs for students in Boone and Montgomery counties throughout the year, which includes the job fair and community expo. During the event, students that visited in the morning heard advice from a student alumni panel that consisted of 2023 program graduates, such as Grace Shrader, Giovanni Perez Hernandez and Thomas Lafoon with a guest appearance by Honorable Daniel Petrie. The afternoon students were treated to education over life lessons from local community leader Roger Azar before the students cheered their instructors on during a game of Jeopardy.