Holbrook High School (HHS) students celebrated Star Wars Day on May 4 by preparing for life after high school with a May the Future Be With You job fair. The job fair was held in Munoz Gym and was hosted by Grow Arizona, Northland Pioneer College (NPC), Holbrook Chamber of Commerce, and Arizona@Work. The fair also hosted HHS alumni speakers who spoke to the students about obtaining success and their own personal experiences after leaving Holbrook. Kristin (Slade) Johnson spoke about her life after high school and how she became the chief financial officer and owner of HomeVault Property Management, as well as her career as a real estate investor and serial entrepreneur in Farmington, N.M. Johnson said her path to her owning her own company began in high school. “Part of my success is because I worked hard in high school, and I took AP (advanced placement) classes as well as classes through NPC so I graduated with 21 credit hours when I left Holbrook.” Students also heard from Michael Gardner, the president of public affairs firm Policy 48, which represents Fortune 100 clients as well as other industry associations, cities and education groups in Arizona. After asking various questions pertaining to future hopes and goals, Gardner told students, “You are in the right place. Holbrook High School is awesome. You are learning everything you possibly need to be successful. Everything to make those dreams a reality.” Gardner then spoke of his experience working in Arizona government as well as fellow classmate’s success stories. When he started work at the State Capital as a page, which he described as the lowest job, “I watched elected officials debate policies. Then a revelation hit me: they’re not special. These people making the laws in the State of Arizona are just like the people I left in Holbrook. The people of Holbrook are just as smart as these people in the state capital.” Then he realized, “If those people can do this job, I can do this job.” Gardner went on to serve for six years in the House of Representatives. He added that each student needs to understand the importance of having goals and surrounding themselves with other people who also have goals to create the support needed to succeed. After hearing from Johnson and Gardner, students were able to go visit with representatives from 26 different companies and then learn of jobs and volunteer opportunities that are available. Over 200 students were in attendance, with the event also open to the general public. The businesses participating included Arizona Algae Products, Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Dept. of Public Safety, Arizona@Work, Navajo County, City of Holbrook Police Department, Earn to Learn, Kay Supply Building Center, Love’s Travel Stop, Maverik, Navajo County Library District, Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, Navajo County Victim Services, NewLife, Forest Products, North Country Healthcare, Northern Arizona University, NPC Medical Office Administration, NPC Recruiting, NPC Surgical Technology, Petrified Forest National Park, Smithfield Foods, Winslow Indian Health Care Center, Winslow Indian Health Care Center – Nursing Division, Holbrook Unified School District and Little Caesars.
