About the Bay Arenac ISD Career Center, located at 4155 Monitor Road. The Career Center, tucked behind Meijer on Wilder Road, serves students from 22 high schools in Bay, Arenac, Midland, and Saginaw counties. At the Career Center, students study everything from marketing and agriculture to nursing and building trades. There are more than 1,200 students enrolled in 24 programs. Students are at the Career Center either from 7:45 to 10:25 a.m. or from Noon to 2:40 p.m. They are at their home high school the rest of the school day.

Brady Falardeau outside the offices of Bay Future Inc. in Downtown Bay City. (Photo courtesy of Brady Falardeau)The Career Center also offers five student clubs – Business Professionals of America (BPA), which focuses on business skills; Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), which focuses on marketing and business; HOSA- Future Health Professionals, which encompasses health careers; Future Farmers of America (FFA), for students interested in agriculture; and SkillsUSA, which supports the skilled trades. Through the clubs, students work with businesses in the community and enter local, state, national, and international competitions.

The Career Center strives for excellence in everything it does. The students here do more for your community than most people realize. Let me take you through a typical week as a student here and demonstrate the variety of activities we engage in.

Brady Falardeau’s Week at the BAISD Career Center, Dec. 5-9, 2022

I am in the Marketing & Management Second Year Program. Students typically start at the Career Center in their junior year of high school and may have the option to come back for a second year. Every program is different, but in the Marketing & Management program the second-year students go out on internships. I am interning with Bay Future Inc. I spend three morning a week at Bay Future as an employee and the other two mornings I’m in class at the Career Center. In the afternoons, I’m back at my home school, Bay City Central High School.

The main reason I came back to the Career Center for a second year is that I can continue to be involved with DECA, an association of marketing students. I also came back for a second year so I can finish out my work on the Two Cities Connected at the Ansbach Platz Memorial Project, which began my junior year. (Read more about the Two Cities project in this Aug. 18 Route Bay City article.)

Mon., Dec. 5:

I start my week in the classroom, taking a test for the DECA District Competition happening on Dec. 15 at Saginaw Valley State University. I will be competing in the Apparel and Accessories Marketing event, which required me to take the Marketing Cluster Exam before the 15th. The Marketing Cluster Exam is a 100-question test which will configure into my score on a role play that I’ll perform on Dec. 15.

Tues., Dec. 6:

At 8 a.m., I’m in Downtown Bay City for my internship at Bay Future Inc. I spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings with the Bay Future staff. Specifically, I work under Megan Manning, Bay Future Investor Relations & Marketing Manager.

Since my internship began in August, I’ve learned a lot about economic development and marketing. I spend this Tuesday morning creating marketing materials and helping to prepare for the Annual Meeting.

Wed., Dec. 7:

My day begins at 7:30 a.m. when I joined the Bay Future staff at the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Eye Opener Breakfast at the Doubletree by Hilton Bay City - Riverfront. At this event, I was able to network in person with businesspeople from all around the Great Lakes Bay Region while enjoying good food.

Thurs., Dec. 8:

I’m on the road today, accompanying Trevor Keyes, Bay Future CEO, and Megan Manning to Pinconning. There, we film different businesses. We’ll use some of the footage to develop marketing material and some during a presentation at the Annual Meeting.

Fri., Dec. 9:

The Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center Marketing & Management AM program students pose with their Stockings for Foster Care Cart before sending them off to children in foster care.(Photo courtesy of the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center)I end my week back in the classroom. One of my classmates headed up a drive to collect items for children in foster care, so a foster care representative visited our classroom. We get a group picture taken. Later, we welcome Collegiate DECA students from Northwood University to help us prepare for the upcoming competition and to distribute recognition for our performance at a local event that recently took place.

Being a Career Center student has given me a lot of insight into how the world works. I recommend checking out the other programs to see which is right for you or your child at https://www.baisd.net/careercenter/