Elementary school students from across Chatham-Kent, London and Sarnia are getting a sense of what it's like to work in the trades.
Nicole Bouclair with the Lambton-Kent District School Board says they had about 2,200 elementary school students participate in today's event at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham.
"The advantages to introducing this to the students when they're in Grade 7 and 8 are huge," says Bouclair. "We can get them involved in technology courses in high school that could lead to the skill trade later on."
She says so far the students seem to be enjoying the learning experience.
"A couple quotes were like, 'this is the real world,'" says Bouclair.
It's a full house here at the convention centre where students are getting an inside look at jobs in the trades #ck #education pic.twitter.com/U1JjtNEtBS
— Natalia Vega (@Natalia94V) November 16, 2016
Secondary school students will get the same learning experience on Thursday, where there'll be a focus on women in trades.
President of BDM Millwright Jim Waters is one of the companies participating in the event. He says getting the younger generations interested in the industry is crucial.
"Our biggest marketing challenge moving into the future isn't finding new customers, our biggest challenge is finding our future employees," says Waters. "Exposing kids to what the possibilities are [in trades] is invaluable."
Waters says there's a certain negative stigma associated with a career in the trades so an event such as this helps eliminate that.
"There's a stigma attached to someone who doesn't necessarily get a university degree," says Waters.
Secondary students visiting the various booths Thursday (including BDM Millwright) will notice co-op and job opportunities.
"For every high school term we hire two co-op students," says Waters. "In addition, we're constantly on the lookout for people that are interested in the trades."
With so many students in one location, Manufacturing Specialist Geoffrey Wright says the event is a huge success.
"Never have we had this many students in one location, experiencing the trades," says Wright. "The kids were so enthusiastic."
However, the event is not over. Members of the public are invited to the John D. Bradley Centre tonight from 5:30pm-8pm.
Related: Promoting The Trades
