Imagine getting the chance to flip on a mask and try out welding, strap on gear and frame a roof, then save a dummy with CPR all in a matter of minutes.
Imagine getting the chance to flip on a mask and try out welding, strap on gear and frame a roof, then save a dummy with CPR all in a matter of minutes. That was just one of many scenarios available to the over 800 kids from all across the region at the annual Lakeland Career Expo last Wednesday.
Students from schools all over the Lakeland packed into the Centennial Centre on April 29 to get a first hand look at the many different careers available to them.
"The goal is to give the students the opportunity to take a look at career paths they may not have thought about or that they may not have been exposed to," said event co-chair Phyllis Maki.
A total of 29 booths offering hands-on demonstrations were set up in the Cenovus arena, with ten presentations set up in the field house.
Bonnyville RCMP and EMS, Victim Services, NAIT, Lakeland College and ATCO electric were just some of the many booths offering hands-on demonstrations.
Lakeland College's set up consisted of a virtual welding demonstration, which allowed students to try their hand at welding.
The college sent several carpentry instructors to the event with a small wooden roof frame. Students had the chance to put on protective equipment, strap themselves to the replica roof and practice framing the roof.
"It is our walk the wall demo. It is a chance for kids to experience what it might be like to frame a residential roof," said Trevor Provick, a carpentry instructor at Lakeland College. "We tried to make it competitive and fun at the same time. I think it has worked really well to engage them and draw them in to start asking questions."
ATCO electric had a variety of exhibits on hand for the students, the most popular of which was the high voltage hazard demonstration. Several ATCO workers had set up a small 4,000 volt power line, which they used to demonstrate what might happen if objects were to hit an open power line. They touched the line with tree branches and even used a sausage to show what would happen if human flesh touched a live wire.
Adjacent to the power line demonstration was a location station, which allowed students to use technology to locate underground power lines.
The stations informed the students on a variety of possible career paths, including electrical engineer, surveyor and electrician.
"You always run into kids at events like this who don't even understand what a trade is," said Provick. "We just want to make sure the kids know, not just about carpentry, but about any trade. It is a really good option for any kid who doesn't know exactly what they want to do when they graduate."
The expo ran from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. on Wednesday and kept the students to a tight schedule. While some students were wandering the hands-on demonstrations in one arena, another group of students sat through several of the ten presentations offered in the field house.
Those sessions included presentations on careers like a 911 dispatcher, marketing and sales, public relations, human resources, insurance broker, radio DJ, police officer, pilot and "a day in the life" at Imperial Oil.
"The big thing was to make sure that we have a good variety and that it wasn't all just focused on the trades," said Maki.
"We made sure to have some of the softer careers that aren't big (in the region) like public relations and marketing and sales jobs. The region we live in here is so much about the trades but not everybody wants to wear coveralls and steel-toed boots to make a living. There are all kinds of people out there who want to do different things. We wanted to have the opportunity to expose them to something they may not have been exposed to."
Most of the students who attended the event were from Grades 10 and 11, with some of the smaller schools in the region choosing to also bring along their Grade 9 students.
Organizers of the event talked to the local schools and decided to not have Grade 12 students attend the event, as most of the schools felt the majority of students already had a career path in mind by the time they hit Grade 12.
"I thought it was good for them to get a range of perspective and opportunities for future careers," said Steve Ripkens, teacher at Bonnyville Outreach school.
"There is a lot more hands on stuff and I think that helps get the kids a little more involved and interested. It is making it a lot more relatable."
