By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published January 12, 2026
ROSEVILLE — Roseville High School students recently experienced what it would be like to be an X-ray technician, construction manager, disaster response coordinator and more during a virtual reality simulation program held Dec. 12.
The program, in which students explored career opportunities, was part of Macomb County’s Fueling the Talent Pipeline initiative, which is designed to connect industry with local schools. The goal is to expose students to a variety of careers and to prepare them for the workforce with jobs offered by local companies.
The virtual reality simulation program was made possible with a $100,000 grant awarded through Emerge, Huntington Bank and Macomb County Outreach. The company Emerge, for instance, provided the simulation equipment for the experience, including floor mats, joysticks and headsets.
The interactions gave students the chance to experience different jobs. They maneuvered the joysticks to complete different tasks of the chosen career to simulate. The joysticks allowed the students to use different simulated tools and to pick up various objects as they would on a real job.
“All day they’ve been learning about potential careers in Michigan,” geometry teacher Sean LaForge said. “There are a lot of opportunities for kids that are going into certain fields. It’s something different for the students.”
A total of 24 simulation options were available to try out, including industrial machinery mechanic, certified nursing assistant, electrician, accounting, computer numerical control machining, 3D printing technician and more. The event was set up inside the school’s Lower Flex Learning Center, and students attended one session each, which lasted one class period.
Tenth grade student Cash Defour tried out the crime scene investigator and plumber roles during the experiment.
“This was really fun,” he said. “I feel you can learn a lot about what jobs you can experience in life.”
The crime scene investigator and ultrasound technician were two fields that attracted the attention of 10th grade student Kyla Wilson.
“I liked that one,” she said of the ultrasound technician tasks. “You had to check someone’s liver and kidneys.”
Wilson thought the job simulation activity was helpful.
“I think it’s good, especially for people that may not know what they want to do,” she said. “They try to see what they like.”
Before they tried out the simulation, the students listened to a presentation from Jennifer Weot and Dan Rochon, of the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development.
“You’re going to work for a very long time,” Weot said. “It’s so important you like what you do. If you don’t like what you’re doing, you’re not going to last.”
According to the presentation, the following industries will gain the most economic growth in Macomb County in the coming years: automotive and mobility; aerospace and defense; automation and robotics; distribution and logistics; and food and agriculture.
“This is where the majority of your jobs are right now,” Woet told the students.
“These are the things that make us unique from most other places around the country,” Rochon said. “When we talk about getting a good job that has a lot of meaning, these are the five key ones.”
Weot and Rochon also shared details about information technology jobs in Macomb County in the next five years. More skilled workers will be needed in IT, including software developers, computer systems analysts, and computer and information systems managers.
In the next five years, more employees will be needed in health care. According to the presentation, there were 8,078 home health and personal care aides in 2025, and 9,503 will be needed by 2030, an increase of 17.6%. There also will be a 3.6% increase in dental assistants with 1,348 in 2025 and 1,397 in 2030.
Macomb County’s Fueling the Talent Pipeline initiative is scheduled to be at a number of schools this year.