Nicholas Donaldson
Are you graduating next spring and interested in post-secondary education, but aren’t sure where to go or what to do?
“Experience Ontario” may be the program to help you, or someone you know, find a direction for education beyond high school.
NCDS career coach Cathy Tysz will be at Fort Frances High School this Tuesday (Nov. 28) at 2 p.m. to give a presentation on Experience Ontario and what it can offer.
“Experience Ontario provides a combination of career exploration experiences, career coaching, and supports to students that are exploring post-secondary options and possible apprenticeship training,” Tysz told the Times.
She noted the program is for those graduating who didn’t apply for university or college because they don’t know what they want, or applied and didn’t get in, or did get in but were too scared to accept it.
“It’s for all those kids out there that don’t know what they want to be,” Tysz remarked.
This is the third year of the Experience Ontario program in Fort Frances, and the content has changed from the previous two years.
“Year one and year two were focused mostly on paid job placements in different sectors, trying to get their hands dirty and find out what they really want to do,” Tysz explained.
“Now they have turned it around and put more of a focus on career coaching,” she noted.
This involves spending time with the students and finding out who they are, what they want to be as adults, and where they want to go.
“Basically, we get together once a month throughout the school year and go a little deeper into what they are already doing in Grade 10 Career Studies,” said Tysz.
There also are various workshops to help realize the students’ personalities, strengths, and values, as well as who they would like to be.
Financial planning also is part of the program, with Tysz recalling that in last year’s group, one young lady was deciding between becoming a vet or a hairdresser.
“Well, you can go and be a hairdresser for $10,000,” she noted.
“You can’t be a vet for $10,000 because you’re seven years in school.”
Tysz said the student had to make that decision, so they put her in placements and eventually she realized she didn’t want either one.
Rather, she wanted something more in the middle.
“Finding out what you want to do is as important as finding out what you don’t want to do,” Tysz reasoned.
The program here in Fort Frances is allowed six students every year but so far only one has signed up.
The information had been given to the school in September, and students should have been aware about the program and how to apply.
But now Tysz is making the presentation at the school because they are making a push to get more students signed up.
They also weren’t sure if enough parents were aware of the program and its benefits.
“I’m hoping to get a couple more kids on board,” Tysz said.
She noted what turns most students or parents off about the program is the perceived time commitment.
She said they meet only once a month through the school year, and those meetings can be suited to fit the student’s schedule.
As such, there should be no worry about not having enough time.
