On Monday, Jan. 14, 2025, Berkeley High School hosted a Green Career Fair. The fair took place in the exhibition hall at the BHS Community Theatre and held stands for various “green” organizations. From first period through the end of lunch, students were given a chance to explore possible careers and ask questions to professionals who work towards preserving and restoring the environment.
“I think it is important to meet students where they’re at with climate change and to not make it a niche issue, because it really is for everybody,” BHS senior Ilana Nickolaus said, “We don’t have to shapeshift everyone into the same kind of environmentalist … everyone can be environmentalists in the way that they want.”
The goal of the fair was to provide students with information about the earth and environment, and jobs in the green industry and environmental field. Sofia Peltz is Berkeley Unified School District’s Sustainability Program Coordinator, and arranged the Green Career Fair. According to Peltz, it was specifically catered to BHS juniors and seniors interested in a career path related to the environment, and aimed to broaden students’ understanding of what that entails.
“I think oftentimes … people’s first thought is working with plants or working with waste. And while that’s one avenue, there are so many different jobs, for example, within the transportation field … any environmentally related job or a green job is the goal,” Peltz said.
The Sewing Room is a business focused on sustainable fashion and alternatives to fast fashion. “I love promoting the ideas behind fashion sustainability, and I’m encouraging people today to get into the fashion industry and change it. I’m bringing my business, the Sewing Room, to the fair today because we teach sustainable practices through sewing, mending, and upcycling,” Jennifer Serr, the founder of The Sewing Room, said.
Earth Team is another organization that hosted a stand at the fair. Molly Sealand is an Earth Team representative who works in tree ecology and teaches horticulture at Merritt College. Sealand’s work takes her all over the Bay and to Southern California, though she mainly works from her office in Crockett.
“(The Green Career Fair) is an opportunity for me to get the word out that someone can have a career that’s pretty lucrative and fun, just knowing about trees,” Sealand said.
Overall the Green Career Fair was a success, with students engaging with and asking questions to the group of professionals. Students learned all about the environment and the wide range of businesses that care about the earth.
“I think this fair … showed me an interesting job that I could take that helps the environment and has unique experiences,” BHS sophomore Moses Esterson said.