For roughly seven years now, Bemidji Career Academies has been hosting CEO in the Classroom with help from the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce and now with Greater Bemidji, where they bring CEOs into Bemidji High School to talk about their career paths and to inspire students.

Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Abby Randall shares that several CEOs have returned to this event annually, and that she thinks it’s a great way to get in front of the class and share with the community their leadership styles, advice, and different resources to help youth with their career goals.

Mary Eaton, President and CEO of The Idea Circle, said that her experience with the students today was very successful.

Each student was surveyed before and after each presentation in order to gauge both their interests and the things that they got out of each presentation. At the beginning of each talk, there were slides that were provided for each speaker, but it was up to them on how much or how little they wanted to follow the individual slides.

Each CEO was also encouraged to discuss their personal stories and/or advice and overall connect with classrooms about the ways they succeeded in their careers.

Bemidji Career Academies is looking forward to next year’s event and hopes to see many returning CEOs.

By — Emma Hudziak