Talk Shop

 I mentioned in my blog post from last week describing the ETFO ICT Conference and the OTF Fall Curriculum Forum that in the same week, I had also attended the Level Up Skilled Trades Fair. I expressed hope that I'd be able to describe the experience at some point. Well, this is the post, but first, a preamble.

Background - Taking Shop in the Past

Back when I was in Grade 7 and 8, we used to take "Home Ec" and "Shop". Once a week, the intermediate division students from my school would board a bus and go to Charles Gordon P.S. so that we could have instruction in four areas: sewing, cooking, woodwork and metal. 

I've written about my initial experience with sewing and how my mother's expertise unintentionally discouraged me from pursuing it until I was an adult in my 40s. 

My cooking skills are not particularly impressive; thank goodness my husband is an excellent chef. I can prepare breakfast and bake a few things (although I vividly recall a cookie exchange I participated in during my first few years of teaching that lives in infamy). 

Interestingly enough, my forays into woodworking and metal work were more successful. I made a little Pinocchio figure out of wood that still hangs in my parents' basement. My metal project was grander but had a sadder ending. I designed a mobile with stars hanging from a cloud, but someone stole it before I could take it home. 

I am sorry that these experiences are no longer offered as part of the regular learning for intermediate division students. We try our best to replicate the experience with our STEM lab, but it's not quite the same.

TDSB Guidance Professional Learning

On November 25, I attended a board-wide workshop geared towards elementary and secondary school educators with guidance in their portfolio. It was actually very informative. 

In the morning, we heard from Matt Bradley from OYAP encouraging us to promote the skilled trades. He shared some statistics, such as only 10% of 25 year-olds are still pursuing the same career they wanted at age 15. 

One of the sessions in the afternoon was the opportunity to partake in some hands-on learning, supported by Central Tech students. One group had a Plumbing activity where they built a mini soccer goal out of pipes. Our group had an Electricity activity. We learned how to wire a light bulb to a switch. My colleague and friend Kim Davidson worked together and we got it to work.

Level Up Skilled Trades Career Fair - Oshawa

On Tuesday, November 18, all of the Grade 7s and 8s in my school went all the way to Oshawa to attend the Level Up Skilled Trades Career Fair. This was a great opportunity to explore all the different jobs related to the trades. There were a lot of interactive activities for the students to explore, from using miniatures to mimic landscaping plans, to building their own hula hoops with PVC pipes, from changing tires to making metal tool boxes.

I chatted with a few of the representatives there. They explained about how, as a young person entering the profession, they are well compensated and the business also provides benefits and decent pensions, two things that often aren't considered seriously until people get older. Many of the people we met make way more money than I do as a teacher with 29 years of experience and the same employer for decades. 

I was so delighted with what I learned at the Oshawa Level Up Skilled Trades Career Fair that I arranged to take my son to the same event when it was held later in November in Mississauga. 

Level Up Skilled Trades Career Fair - Mississauga

On November 26, my husband, son and I drove out (after an already busy day shopping at the GTA Resource Fair) to The International Centre for some specific exploration. This version of the fair was even more impressive than the one we saw in Oshawa! My son had the opportunity to try out many different occupations on display, from masonry to auto body painting, from virtual welding to metal work. I may have gone a wee bit overboard with all the photo taking, but I was keen to document all the things Peter saw and did so that he could have artifacts to help him with his post-fair reflection. (I also included his scores on the welding and painting, in case anyone is impressed with my son's untrained talent and wants to take him on as an apprentice right away ;>).

I even had the chance to try out some pipe fitting. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks! I need to work on my grip strength, though. 

This experience demonstrated to me that we really need to expose our young people to the skilled trades as often as possible. In school, students are surrounded by educators who selected a particular career path (teaching) that does not always provide enough alternative examples of possibilities. We aren't deliberating omitting options, but we need to make a concentrated effort to promote this avenue of work and employment.

Bonus Content - GTA Resource Fair

I mentioned that on November 26, prior to going to the Career Fair, I was at the GTA Resource Fair. This year was a bit more challenging to get to the fair, between missed trains and extra-rigorous interrogations about our reasons for attending. 

My students never fail to impress me. This year, the Library Helper co-presidents declared that it was unjust to only take into consideration the viewpoints of the library helpers on the trip; they insisted on capturing what the entire student body wanted in terms of books for the library. Therefore, they took it upon themselves to create a Google Form survey to ask students about the books they wanted to be purchased. The co-presidents also visited each of the primary division classes to talk to them in person and collect information on the types of books they wanted. Then, they compiled the results into lists for the library helper shoppers to consult as they browsed.

This group proved that it is worth the extra effort to give students leadership and opportunity to make these decisions. It was a different kind of "shop" that they were at, but the real-world financial literacy and collaboration lessons were still instructive and useful.