Calendar
Winter 2015 Newsletter - Dream Big with Skills Ontario
- Message from Gail Smyth, Executive Director
- Upcoming Events
- Summer Camp registration is now open
- Volunteer at OTSC 2015
- Educators! Book your in-school presentations
- Klaus Woerner award deadline extended
- Skills Ontario makes a splash with Cardboard Boat Races
- Join us on March 27 for our Celebration Gala
- OTSC 2015: Our biggest year yet!
- Getting social with Skills Ontario
- Our inspiration: Sponsor, Competitor and Educator Profiles
Message from Gail Smyth, Executive Director
This January, like many Januarys before, it’s as if the world takes a collective sigh and resets our internal clocks and expectations. Many of us make promises to ourselves and our loved ones that this will be the year that we; lose; gain; let go; take up; change. Still many others decide not to make New Year’s resolutions because it’s a lot of pressure. If this sounds like you, then this year, I challenge you to resolve to dream big – after all, that’s what we’ve been doing at Skills Ontario and we’ve been doing pretty well for the last 26 years!
It’s important to have measurable goals and reasonable expectations but we’ve gotten so caught up in playing it safe with our dreams. So this year, dream your wildest dreams and chase them exactly how you want to: educators, this is the year that you inspire all of your students to be incredible people; sponsors, this is the year that you throw your support into causes that you genuinely love and care about; parents, this is the year that you glow in the satisfaction of helping your child find their passion; students, this is the year that you pursue your dream career no matter how crazy it seems.
Friends, this is the year that we resolve to live big and dream big so let Skills Ontario fuel your dreams. Inside this newsletter you’ll find updates on our initiatives and events, like our summer camps and our Celebration Gala (Save the date: March 27th 2015) along with features of educators, past competitors and sponsors, the people that inspire us to keep dreaming. You’ll also find a few calls to action because if it weren’t for you, our supporters, we’d still be racing cardboard boats in the ponds behind Conestoga College in October (this really happened).
Our big dream is to encourage youth in Ontario to find meaningful careers in the skilled trades and technologies. We dream of an economically successful Ontario where youth find satisfaction in work that is motivating and in-demand. What’s your big dream? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram, we look forward to hearing them all!
Best wishes,
Gail Smyth
Upcoming Events
We're very busy over the next few weeks! We have Cardboard Boat Races, registration openings and our big Gala on March 27th. Join us!
- Jan 27: Elementary Cardboard Boat Races in Brantford, Ottawa, Toronto, Sturgeon Falls and Sutton
- Jan 29: Elementary Cardboard Boat Races in Guelph and Ottawa
- Jan 30: 2nd Elementary Cardboard Boat Race in Guelph
- Feb 9: Young Women's Conference Registration Opens
- Feb 24: Aboriginal focused Trades and Tech Day at Sault College
- Feb 27: Klaus Woerner Award applications due
- Mar 4: Elementary Cardboard Boat Race Championships in Waterloo
- Mar 5: Secondary Cardboard Boat Race Championships in Waterloo
- Mar 5: Aboriginal Focused Mentoring Event in Niagara in partnership with the Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board
- Mar 17: Aboriginal Focused Mentoring Event in Hamilton in partnership with the Hamilton Region Indian Centre and Grand River Employment and Training
- Mar 27: Celebration Gala at the Grand Olympia Hospitality and Convention Centre in Stoney Creek
- Mar 27: OTSC registration deadline
- Mar 31: Dick Hopkins Award applications due
Summer Camp registration is now open
Another year has come to an end and the planning for the 2015 Skills Work! ® Summer Camp is well under way. With 19 confirmed week-long camps occurring during the months of July and August across Ontario, students entering grades seven and eight have a chance to participate in various hands-on, skilled trades workshops. Some of these workshops include: culinary, welding, carpentry, aviation, hair styling, HVAC, plumbing, masonry, and many more. In addition to these workshops, campers may attend an assortment of industry tours such as aircraft centres, training centres, and local facilities. These activities encourage employability skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and communication; skills that are essential to all careers.
In addition to our mainstream camps, we offer a variety of camps such as boys-only, girls-only, Aboriginal focused, and French language camps.
Registration for the 2015 Skills Work! ® Summer Camp opened on January 15th 2015. Please visit our camp website at www.skillsontario.com/camp to view dates, locations, and registration info.
Volunteer at OTSC 2015
If you are passionate about the skilled trades and technologies and want students across Ontario to share in your excitement - we want you to be a part of the Ontario Technological Skills Competition. We’re currently looking for facility marshals and judges for our 67 different contest areas. There are lots of opportunities to inspire youth to pursue careers in skilled trades and technologies, join us! To learn more about these and other volunteer opportunities please visit www.skillsontario.com/volunteer-positions or contact: Barry Harrison, Director of Competitions at bharrison@skillsontario.com
Educators! Book your in-school presentations
Has your school booked our in-school presentation about career opportunities in skilled trades and technologies? Our interactive, multimedia presentations have already been delivered to over 50,000 students across the province this year and has reached over 1,110,000 students since the 2003-04 school year! This presentation is offered at no-cost to affiliated schools, for students in grades 7-12, and it is available in English and French, as well as an Aboriginal-focused format which is culturally relevant to First Nations, Metis and Inuit youth.
Here’s what educators are saying:
“Your presentations were exciting and informative and the students and staff really enjoyed it.”
– Teacher, YRDSB
“Thanks again for your expertise and willingness to share it with our students. I have heard only positive feedback from our students and quite a few of them have approached me to inquire about high school and college trade programs. That’s awesome.”
Teacher, TDSB
“Great interaction with the students - they were engaged - opened some eyes for students as they didn’t realize it was an option- lots of connections for the kids.”
Teacher, YCDSB
And the students:
“This presentation changed my thinking towards the career choices in skill trades and technologies. I actually did not know that there are so many choices, or how much pay they get.”
“I learned that there are many options in the skilled trades and technology careers. Not everyone will be into the particular careers, however I think that this presentation was very effective in showing all the pathways after high school!”
“I learned that going to university isn't the only viable option for a good, well-paying job/career. Also, colleges provide a more hands-on approach to learning and that you can get paid while you learn through an apprenticeship.”
Book your presentation today by filling out the request form on our website at www.skillsontario.com/presentation.
Klaus Woerner award deadline extended
"A gifted engineer, entrepreneur and business leader who made a significant and lasting contribution to the global automation industry ... and to thousands of young engineers and tradespeople around the world who 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."
Do you know a great educator? Nominate them for the Klaus Woerner Award. Presented at the Celebration Gala on March 27th 2015, the award honours educators who have made an extraordinary contribution to their schools and to their students. A call for nominations has gone out with a deadline of February 27, 2015 *Deadline has been extended*. Only two nominators are needed per candidate to ensure the nominee’s consideration.
Skills Ontario makes a splash with Cardboard Boat Races
Our 16th Annual Cardboard Boat Race season is well under way with Secondary Races held in November and December 2014 and Elementary completing their races January 27-30th 2015. This year’s Secondary races were held in 5 locations across the province (London, Ottawa, Sturgeon Falls, Thunder Bay and Toronto) and involved over 450 Competitors including Video Teams. The Championship races will surely be a great competition as the top 3 teams from each race compete for the title of ‘Provincial Champs’ on March 4th and 5th 2015 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Join us on March 27 for our Celebration Gala
We’re working hard to bring you another incredible Celebration Gala for 2015. Join us at the Grand Olympia Hospitality and Convention Centre in Stoney Creek on Friday, March 27th 2015. The Best is Yet to Come will be an unforgettable night of celebrating Skills Ontario and the educators, sponsors, students and parents that star in the incredible film that is our work. Missed our e-invite? Send us an email at info@skillsontario.com or reserve your tickets directly here See you then!
OTSC 2015: Our biggest year yet!
Space Reservation for the OTSC and Qualifying Competitions opened on November 12th 2014 with record breaking numbers. We saw over 3000 space requests come in within the first day, a huge increase compared to 2014! There are still spaces available in a few contests at the Secondary and Post-Secondary Level. If you are interested, we recommend you sign up soon. A big thank you to all of our Board, College and Training Contacts for your diligence with student registrations.
Please visit https://register.skillsontario.com for more registration information.
Getting social with Skills Ontario
Click image to enlarge
We’re getting really social here at Skills Ontario. We’ve joined the Instagram community and look forward to showing off our photos on a great platform. Find us here.
We’re also launching two great campaigns to spread the word about careers in the skilled trades and technologies. One of our campaigns uses Instagram to point out how important the skilled trades are in our day to day lives. We’re finding photos with #Ontario and tagging them with a trade and #skilledtradeseverywhere. You’d be surprised how much of our world depends on skilled workers! The second is a series of Twitter chats: #askatradesperson features a different skilled trades professional answering community-submitted questions. Tune in and send us your questions about their careers and their journeys.
We’re excited to give our followers the opportunity to engage with us and our mentors in an accessible way in case you can’t make it to our events and programs.
Our inspiration: Sponsor, Competitor and Educator Profiles
Sponsor: Confederation College
photo and profile courtesy of Confederation College
Put Your Dreams to Work with Confederation College!
With highly trained, approachable instructors and a dynamic learning environment, Confederation College offers straightforward, practical, hands-on programs and courses that give students the skills, knowledge and confidence to realize their dreams, whatever they may be.
With over 15 skilled trades and technologies programs to choose from, we understand the value Skills Ontario provides to youth by helping them explore their career options and dream big. We are proud to be a long-time supporter of the important work Skills Ontario does.
Skilled trades and technologies workers are in high demand in northwestern Ontario and with Confederation College, the numbers speak for themselves. We are number one in graduate employment among Ontario Colleges, with 89% of our students finding employment within six months of graduation.1 Add in our graduate satisfaction rate of 84%1 and our employer satisfaction rate of 91%2 and you can see, the education and support students receive at Confederation pays off.
Confederation College is more than just another post-secondary institution; we’re a culturally diverse, close-knit community of individuals. We know campus life is more than just studying, so we offer plenty of activities, clubs, special events and athletics for students to get involved in.
Along with our main campus in Thunder Bay, Confederation College has eight regional sites located in Dryden, Fort Frances, Geraldton, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Wawa.
Why study in Thunder Bay? Situated on the north shore of Lake Superior – the world’s largest freshwater lake – Thunder Bay offers an exciting mix of urban and active lifestyles. Students enjoy all of the convenience of city living with easy access to some of Canada’s most epic natural surroundings.
1 Survey of 2012/13 graduates six months after graduation. 2 Survey of employers who have hired 2012/13 graduates.
Sponsor: Haas Factory Outlet
Skills Ontario is very excited to be launching the CNC Machining contest onsite at this year’s Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC). Registration for this contest opened on November 12th with a great initial response and there are now only a couple of spaces remaining - contact competitions@skillsontario.com for more information on how to request a space.
This contest has been made possible by the generosity of the Haas Factory Outlet, a division of Sirco Machinery Co Ltd, as they will be bringing the machines onsite to RIM Park. Thanks to Haas, students, competitors and spectators will enjoy an incredible experience as they witness the technology and sophistication involved with the CNC trade. Skills Ontario is looking forward to this incredible partnership with Haas and bringing CNC to the OTSC. Haas is providing the required machines for the OTSC as well as generously contributing to the future of competitors with monetary awards. Skills Ontario is pleased to have such a strong supporter of education in Ontario’s manufacturing sector working with us.
We hope you can join Haas and Skills Ontario, May 5th at the CNC contest as part of the OTSC.
Competitor: Ryan Gomes
“People have to fly, they need to get places and planes are always breaking down and they need to get worked on” says Ryan Gomes, Director of Maintenance at TriCity Aero in Breslau, Ontario. I laugh nervously while considering the silent importance of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers. I’ll admit that I’ve never thought about who fixes the planes I fly on but speaking with Gomes gives insight into the work that goes into getting hunks of metal in the air and the satisfaction drawn from a job well done.
Like most skilled workers, Gomes discovered a passion for working with his hands and fixing problems in his high school shop class. “I wanted to be an architect but when I started working with my hands in shop class, I realized that I truly love fixing things,” he says, “I tried a bunch of different trades when I was in high school and fell in love with mechanics and the rest is history!” And a pretty incredible history at that – Gomes competed at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition four times and went on to the 2011 WorldSkills competition in London, England where he won a bronze medal in Aircraft Maintenance.
His advice to young people who want to get into this trade? “Don’t do it for the money… you’ll make a modest living but it’s definitely a labour of love… As long you love airplanes and it’s something that you want to do, I think it’s a very fulfilling career.”
On my way home, I catch a glimpse of a plane in the sky and reflect on the passion that Gomes has for his craft. With a new appreciation for the skilled workers who work behind the scenes to ensure our daily safety, I smile and think, “Skilled trades are everywhere.”
Educator: Mr. Kerry Stevens
There’s a special place in everyone’s heart for those few educators that really changed their lives. For students and alumni at Five Mile Public School in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Mr. Kerry Stevens has earned one of those saved places.
“Skills Ontario has been coming to present to my classes for the last few years and I’ve been taking students to the Cardboard Boat Races for two years now,” Stevens says, “Kids at this age need to realize the choices they make matter, even if it seems like a long way away… Cardboard Boat Races are a really good team building [activity] for kids at that age. I wish I could take my whole class of 32!”
This fall, Stevens sent Skills Ontario a video he created to promote our Cardboard Boat Races to his students. The video, in its Breakfast Club-style, offers a glimpse into Stevens’ dedication to the success of his students. In it, you see an educator who cares about individuals and gets to know the unique characters of his students. Watch the video here.
Thank you for your dedication and support Mr. Stevens. Students are truly lucky to have you and other like-minded educators helping youth discover their passion!
