Skills Work!® On The Road - Sudbury

Dinos and Saucers and Moose, Oh My!

The previous two Skills Work!® On The Road posts were contributed by our two most experienced Liaison Officers, Devon Turcotte from Woodbridge and William Howe from Peterborough.  They told you about some of the more unusual experiences they have come across in their 9 combined years “on the road.”  Since I have been on the road for less than a year, I haven’t experienced anything quite as extraordinary with school presentations. So instead, I’m going to tell you about some of the extraordinary things I came across recently while actually “on the road.”

My geographic region is the Near North, which is why I’m based out of Sudbury.  A couple of months ago I went on my first multi-day, long-distance road trip to visit schools in the communities farthest away from my home.  I planned out my trip to cover as much ground as possible in a week – I drove 1985 km in 5 days, and spent just over 22.5 hours in the car.  That’s almost 400 km and 4.5 hours of driving each day!

Considering my region is the largest geographic area for a Liaison Officer,  I must make several week-long trips during the school year.  This trip included presentations at some very small schools in small towns (I presented to a class of 8 students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8!), which made the trip very memorable, but one thing I didn’t expect on the trip was the amount of roadside attractions I encountered.

I had heard of the famous giant goose in Wawa (which I learned is not the only giant goose in town – my hotel had a giant goose on its roof and I saw a couple others around town), but little did I know that I was going to drive by some lesser known giants on my trip.

I saw a giant snowman in Beardmore, a pack of giant wolves attacking two giant moose in Hearst, a giant nativity scene in Kapuskasing and a full-sized replica of a giant dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, on the highway near Mattice!

Another fantastic sight I drove past was a flying saucer, proudly displayed outside the tourism centre in the town of Moonbeam.  And of course, I almost forgot a giant roadside attraction that we have right here in Sudbury - the Big Nickel!  These are just a few of the many roadside attractions around the province, which can showcase the personality of a town or region. 

Next time you see a roadside attraction like these, remember that they were also designed, built and installed by people in skilled trade and technology careers!  And I just love that I get to travel to new places while making sure that even the small towns in remote locations around our beautiful province get to hear our message about the myriad of opportunities that are out there in the skilled trades and technology!  So follow your passion and do what you love, so you’ll always love what you do!

Mauricio Ospina

Bilingual Liaison Officer

Click here to see where Mauricio and the rest of the Liaison Team have travelled so far this school year!

Ms. Skills - From the Executive Director

BUILDING FUTURES, ONE DREAM AT A TIME

Skills Canada – Ontario will host its 10th Annual Fundraising Gala on March 4

There have been countless articles written about the impending shortage of skilled tradespeople.  In a recent edition of Maclean's, Canada’s most famous contractor, Mike Holmes was quoted as saying, “in 10 years, we’re going to be a million tradespeople short.”

Convinced yet?   We have been convinced for over 21 years that young people can have a very rewarding future by choosing the skilled trades as a career path.

Enabling change requires action.  We need to give our young people the opportunity to explore the skilled trades and technologies as career choices if we hope to strengthen our workforce, and develop the talent our province requires to stand out in a very competitive global economy.

On March 4, 2011, Skills Canada – Ontario will host its 10^th Annual Fundraising Gala, appropriately themed “Building Futures, One Dream At A Time.”  It is always a very exciting evening that features dinner, live music, and a silent auction.  This year, we will also incorporate a live auction into the evening.

The event was established by the Board of Directors to raise funds for the Skills Canada – Ontario Bursary, which provides financial assistance to competitors from Ontario that advance to the Canadian Skills Competition.  It also provides assistance to students participating in other Skills Canada – Ontario programs where costs may be prohibitive.

We have countless stories of young people who have participated in programs offered by Skills Canada – Ontario who have gone on to have engaging, successful careers.  Celebrating their success, as well as the success of other skilled tradespeople associated with our organization, is something we are very proud to share.

Our Fundraising Gala also features inductions into the Klaus D. Woerner Hall of Fame.  The late Klaus Woerner, founder and CEO of ATS Automation Tooling Systems, was a gifted engineer, entrepreneur and business leader who made a significant and lasting contribution to the global automation industry.  Thousands of young engineers and tradespeople around the world have benefited from his commitment to apprenticeship training.  His sharp intellect, dedication to adding value through innovation, global insight and passion to succeed made him one of Canada's great entrepreneurs.

The Hall of Fame Awards recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of skilled trades and technologies. Since 2006, this award has been presented in memory of Klaus Woerner, a trailblazer for the skilled trades.  Visit our website to see a list of past recipients.

We would be happy to have you join us at this exciting event.  For information, or to order tickets, click here.

Gail Smyth

Executive Director, Skills Canada - Ontario

People’s Choice Award – Vote for your favourite Cardboard Boat Race video

In conjunction with the Cardboard Boat Races each year, Skills Canada – Ontario offers students an exciting opportunity to showcase their technological and creative skills in a fun contest.

In teams of two, students from across the province film and edit videos that promote the Cardboard Boat Races. All footage is shot live at the boat races.  Teams then have one month to edit and submit their videos, which are then judged by a panel of industry experts.

This year, Skills Canada – Ontario has introduced a new element to the Secondary Video Challenge: The People’s Choice Award!

While expert judges are analyzing the videos based on the criteria in the guidelines, the general public can choose their favourite to win the People’s Choice Award.  Follow us on Facebook to find out when voting is open!

Note:  You will need a YouTube or Google account in order to vote.

Voting Instructions:

1.     Go to www.youtube.com/skillsontario to reach Skills Canada – Ontario’s YouTube channel.

2.     There are two view options.  If you look at the very right end of the channel bar, you’ll see you have the options of “Player View” and “Grid View.”  Make sure you are set to Player View.

3.     Click on “Playlists” in the channel bar.  You will see one Playlist for the 2010/2011 Elementary Video Challenge and one for the 2010/2011 Secondary Video Challenge.

4.     Watch the videos in either playlist, or both!

5.     Click the “Like” button under your favourite secondary video to vote for it.  You will be asked to either sign in using your Google or YouTube login, or to create one.

6.     Get your friends voting too!  The contest closes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 4^th.  The winning team will be directly notified by Skills Canada – Ontario.

Good luck to our participating teams!

Ms. Skills – From the Executive Director

Ontario Improves Skilled Trade System

For the past 22 years we have been promoting careers in the skilled trades and technologies as viable, first choice career options for young people.  We have had many wonderful success stories and have encouraged many students across the province to pursue a very rewarding career choice.

Despite these accomplishments our team still has a big mountain to climb – the mountain of misconception.  How do we enhance the value, or importance, of skilled trade and technological careers in our society?

Careers in medicine, law, and education are respected career choices – as they should be, because they are important.  But where would these professionals perform their work without qualified tradespeople to design, construct and maintain our hospitals, courthouses and schools?

Many of the professions mentioned above have a regulatory body, such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons, College of Nurses and the Ontario College of Teachers.  These professional bodies have a very important function, such as issuing licenses, advocating on behalf of the profession, and improving the knowledge and skills of its members.  It also gives these professions credibility and garners greater respect from the public.

In the Fall of 2009, the Government of Ontario established the Ontario College of Trades.  The College of Trades will be a regulatory body that gives industry a greater role in recruitment, governance, certification and apprenticeship training.  It will also give the skilled trades a professional regulatory body similar to teachers, doctors and nurses.

I was proud to have been one of nine industry leaders chosen to serve as the Appointments Council and interim Board for the Ontario College of Trades.  The College will establish a framework of fees to support itself, and develop a complaints, enforcement and discipline system to govern its members.

As a member of the Council I was able to recommend that Kevin Piunno, a past competitor from the Ontario Technological Skills Competition, design a new website for the College. 

Kevin, a 2nd-year student from Niagara College, has been competing at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition since he was a secondary school student at the Niagara District School Board.  As a secondary school competitor, Kevin earned a gold medal in 2008 and a silver medal in 2009 in the Website Development contest.  Kevin competed in Website Development again in May 2010 as a post-secondary school student, earning his second gold medal.

The Ontario College of Trades website (http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/) will be launched very soon.  Good work, Kevin!

We know we still have a large part of the mountain to climb, however with the establishment of the College of Trades, we are one step closer to the summit.

For information on the College of Trades, visit http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/tcu/collegeoftrades/.

Skills Work!® for Women – Jessica Steffler, Civil Engineering Technologist

One of the best hidden secrets about skilled trade and technology careers is that they often open doors to a variety of other career experiences.  From business management and ownership, engineering or architecture to law and teaching, many journeypersons, technicians and technologists can find themselves in any number of different fields.

Jessica Steffler is just one of those people.  A graduate of the Civil Engineering Technologist program at Conestoga College, Jessica always exhibited strong skills in math, and was introduced to the civil construction industry through her father.  Civil Engineering Technologists have a wide range of duties, including design and preparation of construction drawings, planning and scheduling projects and conducting field and laboratory tests on soils, asphalt and concrete.

Despite enjoying the work, it didn’t take Jessica very long to recognize that there was a shortage of good, skilled workers, and one major barrier to filling those spaces:  “the misconceptions that educators and parents have about working in careers in construction and skilled trades.” 

After four years in the industry, Jessica started a new organization – the Ontario Civil Construction Careers Institute.  As Director of the organization, her days are spent in extensive travel around Ontario, speaking to high school students about careers in civil construction, engineering and skilled trades.  She also created the website, posters, literature and resources for guidance departments, allowing her to draw on her creativity and people skills.

In this position Jessica gets to travel and meet new people all the time.  Every day is different, and she continually inspires students to try something new, and helps them get into apprenticeships.  She would like to see the OCCCI expand significantly over the next five years.

Jessica has been involved with Skills Canada – Ontario for the last two years, promoting civil construction careers at our Summer Camp and Young Women’s programs.  The similar aims between the two organizations created a natural partnership between the two organizations.

This fall, Jessica has mentored at a number of “Skills Work!® for Women” Networking Dinners this year, the most recent being the Toronto Networking Dinner, held on November 23.