Skills Work - At Camp!

Conestoga College, Kitchener

I attended my third camp at Conestoga College in Kitchener.  The head office for Skills Canada – Ontario is in Kitchener too!  I just missed the camp held at the Waterloo campus, but since I had a blast this week, I’m okay with it.

 One of our workshops was broadcasting.  I had no idea it was linked to the skilled trades, but it’s part of the technologies.  It makes a lot of sense when you think about all the programming people do, and all the electrical equipment they use.  Our workshop leader was Mike, and he talked to us all about different radio careers, including all the recording and producing stuff.  There’s a lot more to it than sitting in front of a microphone and talking.  A lot of planning happens behind the scenes, and a lot of things are run by computers.  I’ve made lots of playlists on my iPod, so I got what Mike was talking about right away!  Anyway, we got to record commercials, and that was awesome!

In our woodworking workshop, three of the carpentry students at Conestoga taught us how to make our own game!  It was really fun, because we had to do so many different things – cutting, sanding and finishing the wood.  Plus, I learned how to play a new game!  And now when I show it to my friends, I can brag all about how I made it!  I’m getting to be a pretty fantastic woodworker, if I do say so myself!

I got to do another culinary workshop this week too!  I’m a pro at making pizza now, and I know how to make chocolate mousse from scratch!  I made it at home for my mom and my dad and my sisters, and they thought it was delicious!  Gary, the chef who led our workshop, told us a lot about how to become a chef, and the other things you can do, like writing a cookbook, or being a food critic or teaching.  I had started to figure out that skilled trades are an amazing way to make money and have a really fun time at work, but I didn’t know about all the other stuff you can do too!  Skilled tradespeople often own their own businesses, and teach their trades in colleges, training centres and the workplace.  And those are just two examples!  My sister wants to be a teacher, and I told her about teaching trades and she thought that was cool.

One thing I had never tried before was brick masonry.  I don’t know how brick masons do it – it’s really tiring work!  Lots of lifting.  And it’s a lot harder to build a brick wall than you think.  There’s lots of math involved, not to mention just having a steady hand!  Our leader for this workshop was Adam, and I would not challenge him to an arm wrestling contest!

Our last workshop of the week was working with clay, which was really creative.  And if I wanted to do any skilled trade, I would need to have artistic skill!  So we played with clay, and our workshop leader, Alyssa, showed us how to make different shapes.  And when we took it home, we could bake it make beads for jewellry!  Since I don't wear jewellry, I had no idea that's how they're made.  I baked mine when I got home, and it worked!  I'm not sure what to do with beads though...maybe my sister can use them.

Another awesome week all wrapped up!  I can't wait to see what's in store at my next camp!