Submitted. Approximately 1,100 grade 9 students from the Abbotsford School District participated in this year’s “Take Our Kids to Work” Day (‘TOKTW’), held November 5th. TOKtW is an annual national program in which grade 9 (or equivalent) students are hosted by parents, friends, relatives and volunteers at work-places across the country every November. The program supports career development by helping students connect school, the world of work, and their own futures. Take Our Kids to Work™ began in 1994 in the Greater Toronto area. Today, students across Canada, from Nunavut to Newfoundland participate in the program.
For Abbotsford students, work experience placements ranged from a medical transfer service, eye surgery clinic, RCMP Headquarters, Vancouver Fire Department, Abbotsford School District, Langley Memorial Hospital, various farms, and Transport Canada, among others. Students could then detail their experiences and enter to win a prize of an iPad Mini. Zoe Vassalos, a grade 9 student at WJ Mouat Secondary won the district grand prize for a video of her experience at a medical transfer service.
The Abbotsford TOKTW Day is organizing by the district’s Career Programs.
Research suggests that today’s students will have multiple careers over the span of their working years. To be successful, they will need to master both new technologies and complex social and organizational systems. Learning in school becomes more effective and relevant if students can see where their education might lead them in the future. Spending a ‘day in the life’ of a profession or workplace is a fun and fascinating way to explore the world of work, think about career options, and make informed educational decisions.
For more information regarding the Learning Partnership’s ‘TOKWD’, see www.thelearningpartnership.ca/what-we-do/student-programs/take-our-kids-to-work.