A group of Canora Composite School students, accompanied by Paul Geerdts, teacher, visited the University of Regina (U of R) yearly Engineering Expo on October 11.
The purpose of this field trip was to broaden student understanding of the various engineering fields or strands in an attempt to determine a prospective career choice based on aptitude and love for the job, said Geerdts.
It is a common dilemma that students exit Grade 12 not knowing what they are going to become. This uncertainty could lead to low morale, frustration, dropping out of university or college, and even depression.
Geerdts said he believes in the early determination of student strengths, prior to Grade 12 if possible, in order to facilitate career guidance and course selection support.
“Every student has a certain dominant strength that would make him or her successful in the working world out there and the teachers at CCS are determined to find out what that is early enough to provide adequate guidance, discussion, and support. This enables each student to work a job that fits him or her like a glove.”
Geerdts said the U of R trip was educational in a variety of ways. He said probably the most important concept they learned is that it’s not necessarily the most intelligent students or those with the highest grade point averages who become successful in university.
“Rather those who receive the most support are often the most successful. In a sense, the people at the university will replace the home community and should become the new support system for each student. The U of R certainly has a solid student support system and it made that clear.”
Geerdts said another important component is the willingness of students to ask for help. They were told it’s not unheard of that students who achieved top grades in high school ended up failing and dropping out of university.
They were told that almost anyone can be successful in university with a solid support structure. This support structure starts when children begin attending school and continues on to University.
The trip to the U of R was only one of several annual attempts to enlighten the minds of students to reduce the repercussions of career uncertainty.
Journey-persons and other experts are regularly invited to the school to give talks and display their tools and equipment used, as a further attempt to support successful career choice, said Geerdts.
“CCS is looking forward to having Corey Curtis, SaskPower district operator for the Canora, Kamsack and Sturgis region, visit our school sometime during the next few weeks. This shows that we strongly desire that the community members, such as Mr. Curtis, become involved in the lives of our children. A school cannot be successful without community involvement.”
