Key Takeaways:

  • Context: Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego (DCMO) BOCES, a rural New York education service organization, needed to organize multiple career day events across four counties and 16 school districts for high school students not yet enrolled in CTE programs.
  • Challenges: Christina McCall-Hopkins (the learning coordinator) and her team, were managing registrations for 1,200+ students and 40+ business speakers using paper forms, email, and spreadsheets. This approach took days to sort and often led to scheduling conflicts and manual errors.
  • Results: 
    • Four career day events successfully planned in one month across multiple locations
    • 1,200+ students registered using Sched’s bulk upload and room scheduling tools
    • Speaker bios, session signups, and business links centralized in one event hub
    • Print-ready attendance sheets used by teachers for in-session accountability
    • Immediate student feedback submission via built-in surveys
    • Easy-to-share reports impressed school administrators and supported board reporting
  • Why Sched? Easy student upload, built-in mass email tools, centralized attendee tracking, and print-ready attendance reports saved the team days of work and made reporting to leadership easier.

💡Paper forms and spreadsheets won’t cut it. Plan smarter, more engaging events with Sched. Free to try—no strings attached.

Planning Career Day Events Across 16 Districts

As the Learning Coordinator for Career Destinations at Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego (DCMO) BOCES, Christina McCall-Hopkins has one big mission: help students explore their future.

That mission takes her far beyond a single building. Christina supports students who aren’t yet part of a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Many are on academic tracks or haven’t reached the grade level to choose their career path.

She explains:  “We work across four counties and 16 school districts. Some of my students are an hour away. Some I only see for one big event. So when we plan something like a career day, it has to count.”

The Challenge: Speaker Coordination and Room Assignment were an Event Scheduling Nightmare

Career days at DCMO BOCES are no small lift. Between two buildings and multiple program areas, Christina and her small team regularly organize events for 800+ students and 40+ business speakers at a time.

And in January alone? Christina hosted four different career events, reaching more than 1,200 students.

“We had students picking between three to five sessions each. That meant I had to go back, check every form, count how many chose each speaker, and figure out how to assign rooms and keep everything balanced. Last year, that process took days.”

Add in classroom visits, paper handouts, unresponsive student emails, and endless spreadsheets. The process was anything but efficient.

“That piece alone was a nightmare. We needed something to help us improve our scheduling process.”

The Solution: Coordinate All Event Details Using a Top School Event Planning Software

To simplify every part of the planning process, Christina and her team used Sched’s event management software to:

Upload hundreds of students into the platform in minutes

Sched’s bulk upload feature made it easy to import over 900 student names and email addresses at once. No manual entry. No back-and-forth.

Send mass invitations and event reminders

Christina sent event invites, reminders, and real-time push notifications to all registered students in just a few clicks.

Give students a real-time view of sessions and speakers

With Sched’s Call for Papers tool, students were able to browse speaker bios, session descriptions, and even visit business websites, without leaving the event page.

Track student registrations and create print-ready schedules

Sched’s event registration tool made it easy to monitor which sessions students signed up for, while also giving Christina and her team printable schedules and attendance sheets for each room.

Collect student feedback instantly

After the event, Sched automatically sent a feedback form to attendees. Students responded quickly, and Christina was able to use the data in post-event debriefs with her team.

Share event data and analytics reports with school leadership

Sched’s reporting and event analytics platform gave Christina a clear snapshot of event participation, attendance, and engagement to share with administrators and board members.

Christina shares, “When I gave some of the reports to my administration, they were impressed. The email of the day I got made it easier. I could just forward that email summary and they had everything they needed: quick stats, session counts, attendance. It was helpful and convenient.”

The Results: Career Day Scheduling Made Simple for 1,200+ Students with Sched

Christina delivered four well-organized career exploration events in just one month, connecting over 1,200 students with 44 business speakers across two centers.

Her team didn’t have to manually sort registration forms or chase last-minute updates. Everything lived in one place, and the experience felt smoother for everyone involved.

  • Students could browse sessions, register independently, and explore speaker bios with ease
  • Teachers used print-ready attendance sheets to track attendance throughout the day
  • Administrators received clean, visual reports they could take straight to board meetings

In Christina’s words: “Sched saved me so much time and work. It let us work smart, not hard. That was huge for us.”

Christina was also surprised by how quickly students shared their feedback after the events.

“I had 45 students fill out the form almost right away. And we used their input during our debrief meetings.”

With Sched, Christina and her team now have an efficient event planning platform they can use in future career events. There’s no need to plan events from scratch.

Run Better, More Organized School Events With Sched. Try it for Free Today.

Sched is the all-in-one event management software K-12 schools use to plan and manage events that actually work, from career days and PD sessions to multi-site conferences. 

Whether you’re a team of five or flying solo, Sched helps you stay organized, communicate clearly, and deliver meaningful experiences for every attendee.

Save hours. Cut the chaos. Deliver events that leave a lasting impact.
Try Sched for free (no credit card needed).