Fossil Ridge High School students can get a sneak peek into their future through attending careers tours organized by the College and Career Center.

About 250 students have attended these tours this year, which are offered nearly every week. Some popular ones include trips to Poudre police and fire station and UC Health along with ConstructionCon, according to College and Career Coordinator Terra Thiebaut. She said the school has built strong relationships with cosmetology and manufacturing firms as well.

A popular recent tour sponsored by The Group real estate took students to a model home, where they learned about real estate job opportunities, from building, contracting, to selling the home.

Sophomore Manuel Suarez thought finding out about a career opportunity was not the only benefit to that tour.

“Seeing the amount of kids genuinely surprised me, the fact that we each got a chance to ask questions and have all of our voices heard was super cool,” Suarez said. That wasn’t the only benefit.

“I got a free lunch and an excuse to miss one half of a day of school,” he said.

Thiebaut said the tours offer students opportunities to talk to different companies about what the profession is like, internships, job shadows or even summer jobs. Students may even go on a career tour and decide the career is not a good fit.

Sophomore Ashley Nugent echoed the value of the tours.

“I think if it’s something you may want to do, why not go?” Nugent said.

“I enjoyed hearing the group talk, talking with someone who is very successful in what they do,” Nugent said of the real estate tour. Seeing people who have slacked off some during high school still finding their career path.

Career Center secretary Candie Joshi said it is important for students to talk to people in various industries.

“I think it’s exciting and helpful to see people actually doing the work in a job because you have an idea in your head of what people do, but it’s different seeing them,” she said.

TVs around the school advertise career tours. If students have selected these career interests on Xello, Theibaut will send an inquiry email informing them about a related upcoming trip. Students must get a signed permission slip to reserve their spot for a field trip.

Sophomore Emily Smith participated in the recent tour about the real estate industry.

“I definitely learned more than I expected about the pricing of homes and market for houses in Fort Collins,“ Smith said. “It’s the best field trip I’ve ever been on for sure, I was actually intrigued by the learning experience.”