SCRANTON — Hundreds of middle school students received a firsthand look into potential careers Wednesday morning during a job-shadowing event hosted by the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
Peter Smith, director of student services at Abington Heights, enjoyed watching eighth grade students from the district’s middle school collaborate inside an incubator space at the Scranton Enterprise Center.
“You can see the wheels turning,” he said. “They’re stretching a little bit, trying to come up with a problem and solution and get that entrepreneurial spirit.”
Smith believes providing students with an up-close look at different industries helps them develop a clearer plan for the future.
“When you get your eyes on something and see how something really works, that’s when you’re going to get excited about a certain career path,” he said. “Targeting and having a well-articulated plan for what you’re going to do after high school is invaluable.”
Smith also noted Abington Heights tries to help students hone their interests at a young age.
“We start our career exploration in third grade, and have for many years,” he said. “With the world changing … kids need to be more targeted in what they’re going to study. They have to know that there is a job on the other end.”
Sharon Langan discusses the NEPA Dental Assisting School’s 12-week program which provides an introduction into dentistry with eight-grade students from Abington Heights Middle School at the Scranton Enterprise Center on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Charlie Curtin, an eighth grade student at Abington Heights Middle School, who may pursue a career in the chemical engineering field, found the job-shadowing program illuminating.
“I got to learn a lot about economics, and how businesses start and grow,” he said.
Jason Washo, principal and chief architect at Sho Technology Solutions, and Brian Jagger of TechA11y educated students about the power of artificial intelligence technology and how to input code to create apps.
Washo stressed young professions can find quality employment in the technology realm in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“One of the biggest things is that you can enter a really good career here,” he said. “We have the schools to teach it, we have jobs in the area that can provide it, and we have resources like us that are willing to show it.”
Students also learned about a variety of other careers through visiting a wide range of workplaces across the region, including Black Cow Cookies & Cream, WVIA, Benco Dental, Cardinal LG and Pennsylvania American Water, chamber officials said.
Mary McDermott, IGNITE program manager, stressed that the chamber continually works with local school districts to boost programming.
“They saw the need to get exposure earlier and earlier with the students,” she said. “We thought this was a great idea to bring the middle school students out to job shadow.”
After learning about entrepreneurship, students broke out into groups and developed a business idea.
“At the base, bottom level, entrepreneurship is just simply solving a problem,” McDermott said. “They identify the problem, they look for creative solutions to help solve the problem, and then they test ideas. They build something from nothing.”
One team of students pitched an idea for an app that would help people choose different food combinations to cook or bake that are also easier to clean up after.
“When the app building came up, their eyes lit up and they were very (excited) to see the behind the scenes of it all,” McDermott said.