Montgomery County Middle School students got an opportunity to plan for their future on Nov. 26, when they attended a career fair at the school’s multipurpose room.

For two hours, students learned about many job fields ranging from banking to construction. The event had 16 Montgomery County-area businesses in attendance.

Eighth-grade students Grayson Dunlap and Myles Wilson were in charge of the career fair. It was part of their FCCLA Star Event project.

“It’s part of the National Career Connection program with FCCLA, so their project is National Program in Actions,” said Jan Hankinson, who is a part-time adviser with the MCMS FCCLA chapter. “They had to do something on one of the national programs. Career exploration is one of those.”

The businesses that attended the fair were Peoples Savings Bank, AFB International, tinyacts.co, Shelter Insurance, Montgomery Hardware, Missouri Department of Conservation, Montgomery County Health Department, City of Montgomery, Mike’s AutoCrafts, Scientist Jim Elder, Schwartz Bus Service, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Montgomery County Ambulance District, Sellenriek Construction and Elite Real Estate. Each of them received a thank you card.

Alex Periera and Brett Iman were the representatives of AFB International, a pet food company that is located on Mitchell Road in Montgomery City.

“We make the coating that goes on dog and cat food that gives it a taste,” Periera said. “Then, we house dogs and cats. We give them an option of two different foods and we document which one they like just to give us an idea of what kind of flavors to use and whatnot.”

Grayson and Myles invited about 20 businesses to participate in the fair.

“It was really nice to get this many guests,” Grayson said. “We didn’t think we could get this many people.”

Grayson said he and Myles wanted to bring the career fair back to MCMS since it hasn’t been held at the school in years.

“Someone else did this project, so we decided to pretty much reuse it and do it again,” Grayson said.

Each student received a sheet and talked with five businesses. After getting their sheet filled out, the students hand it to Grayson and Myles. They received a piece of candy and were entered in a drawing for a prize.