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Gallatin, Mo., students, from back, Danielle Ness, Lainie Huffman, Tiffany Lewis and Breanne Brammer, practice walking as a group at the My Success event Wednesday at Civic Arena.

The kids never knew St. Joseph had so much to offer.

Sophomores from around Northwest Missouri attended My Success on Wednesday — a two-day career fair hosted by the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce at Civic Arena.

The event let students explore career opportunities in six career tracks: natural resources and science; arts and communications; engineering, manufacturing and industrial technology; health services; human services; and business management and marketing.

According to surveys taken after last year’s event, 94 percent of students who attended said they learned about careers they didn’t even know existed.

Benton High School sophomores Will Shannon, William Bryant and Jason Nagel mentioned several careers that interested them, from water filtration jobs to railroad inspectors that check track for cracks and bumps with a specialized rail car.

“I had no idea that was in St. Joe,” Will said.

Jamin Sybert of Albaugh Inc., was in the same situation a few years ago. He graduated from North Andrew High School, then went to college and got a degree that he thought would take him almost anywhere. But he landed in St. Joseph as a chemist.

“People don’t realize how many labs there are in St. Joe,” he said. “There are a lot of good high-tech jobs here.”

At the Missouri Department of Transportation booth, Jose Rodriguez set up computers where students could design bridge plans that would hold a truck, but remain as cheap as possible.

Steve Johnston of the chamber said the hands-on atmosphere was exactly what the group strived for.

“We try to make this a career laboratory,” Mr. Johnston said. “We want the kids to get their hands on it.”

About 2,000 students from 30 high schools will attend the event by the time it ends today. Seventy-eight businesses and 16 university, college and technical centers provided guidance that could help students grab the jobs on display.

Representatives from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education were scheduled to drop by to observe the event, according to Mr. Johnston.

“They want to start promoting this kind of event statewide,” he said.

Clinton Thomas can be reached

at clintonthomas@npgco.com.