Jackson was one of more than 600 high school students from Calhoun County who attended the Gadsden State Community College's career fair at McClellan. Organized by Gadsden State's career coach program, the fair offered students more detailed information on career opportunities and how to obtain them. The program’s staff hopes it will become an annual event.

The fair featured booths from 18 different professions that provided information to the students. Guest speakers from several professions talked with students about how they had become successful. Professions represented included medical, law enforcement, engineering and manufacturing.

Jackson, 16, learned Wednesday that Gadsden State's Ayers Campus in Anniston offers a summer program on science, technology, technology and math (STEM) jobs.

"I had no idea they even offered it ... I wanted to do something in the summer," Jackson said. "This has been tremendously helpful."

The county and the state are in need of high-skilled workers, particularly those for manufacturing fields, according to a 2014 State of the Workforce report from the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. The report breaks up the state into nine regions. According to the findings, the county is part of the region with low educational attainment compared to the state as a whole — education needed to obtain high-skilled jobs.

More than 78 percent of residents age 25 and over have graduated from high school, compared to 83 percent for Alabama, the report states. Also, 14 percent have a bachelor’s or higher degree versus 22 percent for the state.

Grace Mitchell, 17, of Oxford High, said she learned at the fair about more career options she could pursue.

"I had been set on the medical field forever, but now I'm interested in engineering," Mitchell said. "I didn't know there were so many career options."

Laura Swann, director of of the career coach program at Gadsden State, said she and her staff held the larger event to educate more students about career opportunities. The addition of guest speakers was expected to help educate more students, Swann said.

"We've found that some students are too afraid to approach booth representatives to get into a conversation," Swann said. "At least with the speakers they're learning something."

Phillip Mitchell, assistant principal at Oxford High, said he appreciated Gadsden State's approach regarding the career fair.

"It's a more hands-on approach ... it allows more students to get more information and a better understanding of what those fields entail and what type of training to take," Mitchell said.