At Kennett High School in Conway, MWV Career and Technology Center Director Virginia Schrader shows how the center’s students are learning valuable careers skills, from designing and building parts for NASA to learning about bicycle mechanics and operating a recreation-based businesses.

Tourism is a big, growing and vital part of New Hampshire’s economy, especially in the North Country. In 2021, a record 12.8 million visitors came to the state, spending more than $5.5 billion and generating $323 million in state revenue.

In 2021, the New Hampshire Bureau of Economic Affairs opened the office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development, joining 15 others in a compact of states committed to growing this sector. As part of the effort, four high schools in northern New Hampshire, including Kennett, are launching outdoor recreation career programs, supported by UNH research and expertise. And recently, the state Department of Education adopted recreation career competencies for high school programs, including the one at Kennett.

The goal, Schrader says, is not only to prepare local students for jobs in the area, but to encourage them to pursue college degrees in STEM, business, finance and other areas – skills that will, hopefully, allow them to find rewarding careers in the Mount Washington Valleys.