Avon Maitland District School Board Guidance, Career Studies And Student Success Teachers Attended TradeUcation At Conestoga College
by Bob Montgomery
Superintendent Paul Langis brought Avon Maitland trustees up to date on a variety of activities related to pathways programming at their latest board meeting.
A group of Avon Maitland Guidance, Career Studies and Student Success Teachers attended TradeUcation at Conestoga College. They participated in various trades-based workshops on carpentry, masonry, CNC machining, electrical engineering, and welding.
Part of the partnership with Conestoga was to introduce women to the skilled trades and what opportunities were there for them. One of those opportunities was a dual-credit electrical program for women and fourteen of their students from across the board successfully completed the Inaugural Dual Credit Course for women with Conestoga this past semester. Langis says it was so successful, with so many girls attending, that next year they're extending the same idea to a dual credit course in plumbing with Conestoga.
Langis says they also sent more than a thousand grade seven and eight students to the LevelUp! career fair that was hosted at the Western Fairgrounds in London this fall and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program provided transportation for those students. That was more than twice the number of students that attended last year. That event gave students some exposure to the possibilities that are there for them in the skilled trades at a much younger age and gives them a better chance of choosing the right courses when they get to high school. The event was a lot more than just picking up pamphlets and meeting people, they got some hands-on experience on different technologies and got some experience that they otherwise wouldn't get at that age.
Langis also reported that the Avon Maitland District School Board continues to surpass provincial averages in Specialist High Skills Major participation and completion. New partnerships with Gauge Hydraulics in St Marys and Equipment Ontario in Listowel enable additional opportunities for Avon Maitland students.
