Students at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) had the chance to daydream about their futures as the high school hosted its annual Career Fair, welcoming businesses and post-secondary institutions to show off the opportunities they provide students.
The school's gymnasium was filled Oct. 30 with 55 booths trying to attract the swath of students from Grades 9 through 12 who filtered through the fair throughout the day.
Stacy Dutka, a guidance counsellor at ECS, organized the event again this year and said she spoke to many of the business people at the booths who found students were stopping to get some more information.
"For the students, it's just really a chance to get the first-hand information," said Dutka.
She noted as a guidance counselor, she does speak with schools and employers so she can relay information to students, but these fairs allow students to get answers themselves.
"Here they have a chance to ask questions to the people who are the experts in those areas. If someone comes down and asks me what a day looks like in the life of a heavy duty mechanic, I really don't know, but having a heavy machinery mechanic show up for the day and answer those questions, it's that first-hand knowledge (that is provided)."
Representatives from colleges and universities can also provide more insight into what campus life is like at their schools and what typical class sizes are for different programs.
"The morning sessions and the afternoon sessions in the classroom were well attended," said Dutka.
In those sessions, she said sometimes students are a little tentative about asking questions of employers, but if a teacher starts things off, the students will get more engaged and voice their curiosity.
There was lots of local representation from the Estevan business community at the career fair, as well as a post-secondary presence from many schools in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Dutka pointed out that there could be more of a stronger attendance of local businesses, but many are too short staffed to devote the time for someone to be present at the fair for an entire day.
"We really see that come through in the trades and in health care. They just don't have the extra bodies right now," she said.
With schools showing off their finer qualities at the career fair, it provided an opportunity for the students looking to further their education to learn more about what school may suit them best.
"It gives the students the chance to hear the sales pitch, and then if they do want to go do a campus visit, they feel a little more comfortable coming down and asking if that's something we can set up," said Dutka. "They've seen the presentation video. They've seen the information and they're making a more informed decision, narrowing down where they want to go."
The fair was open to all students at ECS from, and it also saw three rural schools attending from Lampman, Stoughton and Gladmar.
