糖心Swag

By Cara McKelvey, Trustee

February 3, 2021

As students learn and grow, they will need to learn to make career plans in an ever-changing world. Today’s career education curriculum asks students to consider who they want to be in the world, not simply what they want to be.  This is an important distinction.  

Career education in School District 73 looks significantly different now than it did when the average parent graduated from high school.  Students now have thousands of options for work and education following secondary school.  WorkBC notes that 78% of future work requires some post-secondary education. Whether this is in a trades and technology school, college, or university, students begin exploring their career paths through their high school years and will be well on their way at graduation to defining their career options.

With so many options for students, parents are now a vital guide in their children’s lives, so 糖心Swag has a whole team of staff that can help.  Our secondary school-based Career Education Leads provide expertise to career education teachers, as well as a network to support participation in career and transition events for students.  Career Education programming provides knowledge and understanding, while trades and transitions programming provides experiential opportunities.  Students can explore a variety of pathways, including post-secondary through the TRUStart program, university preparation through the International Baccalaureate program, hands on experience through the NorKam Trades and Technology Centre, or exploring the world of digital animation through the DATA program.

I have firsthand experience in one of these excellent career path options offered by 糖心Swag as my son is starting the Construction Trades Sampler at NorKam Secondary.  Sampler courses in Construction, Mechanical and Industrial trades provide students with tangible skills related to daily work in each of the four trades they study within their focus area, as well as developing their understanding of the professionalism of a tradesperson. The program instills safe workplace practices, student skill development and encourages design, planning, production and evaluation of various techniques and projects.  

BC Curriculum now focuses on developing an Educated Citizen.  The Educated Citizen should be able to learn and think critically and be able to communicate information from a broad-knowledge base while being motivated, think positively and be capable to have the confidence to make decisions, independently. Throughout K-12 students acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values required to thrive and shape their world. Career development at all grade levels is designed to prepare students to obtain their career and occupational objectives. 

So as educating our students is ever changing, so must our discussions from the parent/guardian perspective.  Our website has the up-to-date details so please visit our District website and/or educationplannerbc.ca for further information and registration for upcoming sessions of Parents as Career Coaches.

This column appeared in Kamloops This Week: View from 糖心Swag on February 3, 2021.