Brooks Secondary School students had the opportunity to find out about future prospects during a career fair held outdoors on school grounds in Townsite.
At the October 19 event, 30 exhibitors showed up to fill the parking lot at Brooks, and to connect with the school’s grade eight to 12 students.
Vice principal Tanya Larkin said part of the formative process of the career fair was that the school wants to make sure the school and community are connecting.
“We know the school is a big part of the community, so how can we get people connecting with our students?” said Larkin. “A career fair is always a good way to do that.
“We want to start highlighting pathways so students can start thinking about what their interests are. It’s not so much planning a career, but finding out what they are interested in.”
Larkin said everyone exhibiting at the fair was asked to bring something to help students make a connection.
“If the students did see something, they would be able to ask questions,” said Larkin. “It’s those questions that can lead to that intrigue and then those good discussions.”
Larkin said a big piece is that educators can outline a career, but it’s nice to talk with somebody about how they got there.
“Everybody’s path is different,” said Larkin. “It’s not like all of the people who were here said ‘well, when I graduate, I’m going to be this.’ The department of fisheries and oceans representative said when he was working on his science degree he never in a thousand years would have guessed that he would have ended up in fisheries in a federal program. It was only because of some unique people who he met in his path that he thought of that as a career.
“It’s all about connections and having those conversations about how people navigate life and how they got from A to B.”
Larkin said the great response from the exhibitors came as a result of sending information out to parents, indicating that if they knew somebody, send them her way, and 30 qathet-based businesses and organizations reached out. Some smaller establishments occupied tables set up around the parking lot perimeter, but some bigger organizations actually brought heavy equipment to the venue for students to inspect.
“The goal was to pique kids’ interest and get them asking questions,” said Larkin.
Students were handed passports when they went out to the career fair, and if they had six stamps on their passport, they could enter it to win a prize. Larkin said there were more than 400 returns, with about 30 prizes being handed out.
Larkin has spoken to a number of students after the career fair who said they loved it.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” said Larkin. “Some were asking if they could volunteer next year so they could spend more time outside.”
Student mentors
Larkin said Brooks students were even able to be part of the exhibits. Because Vancouver Island University was exhibiting, and some of the grade 12 students are enrolled in trades programs there, some students were able to see their buddies in a mentoring role.
“Our grade 12 students who were in those trades programs were proud to be there onsite demonstrating their skills to their friends.”
Larkin also spoke to some exhibitors after the event. She said DMD Chartered Professional Accounts asked if there was more they could do to get involved in the school because they enjoyed talking with the students. She said nearly everybody indicated they would come back to a future event.
It appears that a positive precedent has been set. Larkin said principal Jasmin Marchman called the career fair the first annual and Larkin asked if that meant there would be a second. The answer was affirmative.
Larkin said she had great support from the school’s staff for the fair.
“You always wonder if staff will be hard-pressed to give up their curriculum time and I didn’t get one teacher who was upset,” said Larkin. “The vast majority of staff were really excited to bring their classes out and some of them asked if they could stay a little bit longer.”
Larkin said a big part of the success of the fair was the community.
“If it wasn’t for the community, this day would never have happened, so big kudos to the community. I think word will get out there, and hopefully, we’ll have more people next year who will want to be a part of it.”
