Aug 21 2014

Helping our young people get a head start on what they want to do in the future is more important than ever these days and a Durham College summer camp this month did just that.

Skills Ontario, a not-for-profit organization which promotes the skilled trades and technologies, held The Skills Work! Camp, a week-long day program for kids entering grades 8 and 9, at the Whitby campus in August.

Interest in the skilled trades has waned for Ontario students over the years, as most were encouraged by parents to enter university for their best shot at a high-paying, fulfilling career.

But with the employment situation a moving target at the best of times, with the decline in manufacturing, and since many traditional jobs, such as becoming a teacher, are not perceived as the best choice these days, the trades are where many young people should be looking. Working on vehicles, buildings, machinery and the like is almost recession-proof, is ideal for people who don’t want to be stuck in an office for eight hours a day and these are careers that pay well.

Young people more than ever are encouraged to think of where they want to go and what they want to do after high school and the camp presented a number of options in a fun way. The campers participated in hands-on counsellor and industry-led workshops in the industrial, construction, motive power, services and technology sectors, with Durham College instructors leading some of the workshops.

“I think they’re getting the idea that apprenticeships and colleges are the option if these are the careers that they want to go in,” Jennifer Hood, a liaison officer with Skills Ontario, told us.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the camp in addition to getting a better idea of a possible future career.

Curtis Munns, entering Grade 9 at Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Whitby, is especially interested in engineering and wanted to get experience in some of the trades this summer.

“You’re always innovating and you’re always creating,” he said of the camp.

Kudos to Skills Ontario for the camp and the work it does, and to Durham College for hosting the event.

It’s important to highlight the skilled trades as a career option young people may not otherwise consider.

-- Metroland Media Group Ltd., Durham Region Division