OSUIT expands Middle School Day to showcase career-readiness programs
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Media Contact: Hicham Raache | Communications Coordinator | 918-293-4678 | hicham.raache@okstate.edu
OSU Institute of Technology hosted two Middle School Day events last week, giving Oklahoma youth a fun look at OSUIT’s many career-readiness programs.
Middle School Day was held on May 6-7. OSUIT staff led large groups of middle schoolers on tours spanning the entire campus, giving them a first-hand look at the specialized programs and facilities that provide students with the skills-training education they will need to meet the needs of in-demand industry areas .
“The purpose of this is career and college exploration. This is a great opportunity to get young minds in and see themselves here," said Bryce Berryhill, director of recruitment for OSUIT. "Once you get on campus, you've got a real good chance to continue, whether that be for concurrent, dual-enrollment and/or as a first-time freshman. If they can envision themselves here, then we've got a real good chance of getting them back,”
Middle School Day at OSUIT was developed thanks to an ongoing collaboration with the University of Oklahoma’s GEAR UP for LIFE program. GEAR UP for LIFE is a partnership between OU’s K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal and several under-resourced schools across, primarily, rural Oklahoma school districts to help students and their families prepare for college and workforce training.
Several middle schools that participate in GEAR UP for LIFE visited OSUIT last year for a day of educational exploration. This year, OSUIT expanded Middle School Day to two days, the first for local area middle schools, Okmulgee, Beggs and Morris, and the second day for middle schools participating in the GEAR UP program, Catoosa, Sallisaw, Shawnee and Vian. Around 170 students visited OSUIT on May 6, and more than 500 on May 7.
Shelly Williams, a guidance counselor at Morris Middle School, accompanied 30 Morris seventh graders who visited OSUIT. Middle School Day was a good opportunity for the students, she said.
“It seemed like a really good experience. That way they can explore careers and options for them in the county we live in,” Williams said.
Touring OSUIT helped the students gain clarity about their future.
“They need to be thinking in terms of what they're going to do in high school — concurrent enrollment, things like that — and planning their programming so that if this is a place where they want to go, they can start with concurrent enrollment and they can come and be part of one of the programs,” Williams said.
A host of OSUIT technical and professional development programs welcomed the students, showing them high-tech facilities and equipment and engaging them in fun activities related to the program. The students toured the Heavy Equipment and Vehicle Institute, the GoLab, High-voltage Line Techni Innovations Lab, nursing education facilities, automotive training areas and the Culinary Arts kitchen.
Chef Aaron Ware, an OSUIT Culinary Arts instructor, said he knew he wanted to be a chef when he was in middle school. He said exposing young people to potential career paths alleviates the nervousness they might have in choosing their future career.
“When you put them in this environment and they're all there together and they're celebrating what they're learning here, I think it makes it easier for them to keep saying, ‘Well, this is what I want to do — I want to be a chef,’” Ware said.
The OSUIT community not only gives the middle schoolers a glimpse of their potential future, but it also makes them feel welcome and appreciated, Berryhill said.
“I feel like we bring that every time whenever we have students on campus, as we show them what this community is about,” Berryhill said. “It’s a great opportunity for kids to take those experiences home to their parents, and then hopefully they'll remember us and then come back as a first-time freshman.”