Well over 400 students from Fort Frances and Rainy River high schools, as well as Big Grassy, Big Island, Lac La Croix, and Saskatcheway-Anishnabe, flocked to the Red Dog Inn here last Thursday for the Seven Generations Education Institute’s annual career fair.
Focused on getting kids to think about what they want to do after high school or post-secondary education, more than 25 booths were set up on fields ranging from window-making and forestry to police work.
Workshops and lectures also were held on photography, knowing your career strengths, hotel management, firefighting, law, and even “It’s your education–so why give a damn?”
“I think [the job fair is] pretty cool,” said Fort High student Kevin Yerxa, who, along with friend Jeremiah Fairbanks, said his favourite booths were the Armed Forces and Winnipeg Police Service.
“There’s a lot of job opportunities out there,” he remarked.
Kerry Hyatt and Jen Helliar noted their favourite display was the Ministry of Natural Resources booth. “They gave us lots of information,” said Helliar.
Hyatt said she felt the whole fair was useful for students. “It shows even though you’re young, you can get involved in stuff,” she noted.
Bob Dakin, an MNR fire management technician here, said Helliar and Hyatt were among the many youths to stop by his booth. “We got a number of inquiries from the kids. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see if they follow up on what they’ve learned,” he reasoned.
“They’ve asked, ‘What kind of jobs can I get with the MNR?’ while other kids say, ‘I want to be a conservation officer,’ and have specific questions,” added Dakin.
“And while I can give them answers, I have to add that jobs are changing all the time with technology,” he continued. “There’s always ‘on the job’ training but it’s equally important to keep furthering your education.”
James Ring spent much of his time inquiring at the RCMP, O.P.P., and Armed Forces booths. “They were helpful. They stressed, ‘Get some education and some experience, first. Then decide if this is what you really want to do,’” he noted.
But after he found out his “dream” of flying jet fighters in the air force just couldn’t come true, Ring stopped by the Bell Canada display to see what areas were open there.
“He’s very creative, and we’re talking about what might be suited for,” said Bell rep Elaine Graydon. “Something like human resources or sales might be just the thing.”
“We’ve been promoting careers in general,” said Linda Plumridge of the Fort Frances Times, who helped man the booth with Lincoln Dunn, Kate Byma, and Faye Keesic of the Times’ electronic publishing division.
“We’ve talked to kids about journalism, and about publishing on the Internet. There’s lot of kids interested in computers in general,” she noted.
Ken Boles of Mechanical Contraptions noted while his repair business is specific, he was at the career fair to promote the idea of students planning for their futures in general.
“There’s all sorts of interesting things out there–what are you interested in?” said Boles.
He also was willing to give a little advice. “If you don’t want to get your hands dirty with work like this, go on to a higher education,” Boles quipped as he packed up a small motor.
And organizers agreed the fair went just as well, if not better, than last year.
“It went very well. There were a lot of kids who went through there,” noted Connie Foster, executive assistant for post-secondary education with Seven Generations.
“It was sort of cramped but everything worked out right.”
Foster, along with several exhibitors, added the “passports,” which students could get stamped by visiting different booths and then enter for door prizes after they’d visited every one, also were a hit.
“We’d like to thank the [donors] that contributed to the prizes that really kept the kids interested,” she said.
Committee chair Wayne Anderson was credited for putting the career fair together but was not available for comment by press time.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
