Students entered into a whirlwind of future possibilities last week at the annual GROWTH Alberta Growing Opportunities School Expo, held at Barrhead Composite High School Oct. 18.
Spread throughout two gymnasiums from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., over 60 booths consisting of post secondary institutions, local employers, and community service groups welcomed students in grades nine through 12.
Booths were equipped with knowledgeable individuals ready to share their information with any student who would listen.
At the Pembina Hills Regional Division booth sat Charlotte Watson, executive assistant to the assistant superintendent of employee services. Watson said a lot of the students didn’t realize there were so many positions available with the division.
Although they know teaching positions exist, she said, they were unaware of employment opportunities outside the classroom.
“They don’t know about the mechanics, the electricians, accountants,” said Watson. “PHRD is one of the largest employers here in this area. It allows them to see that they don’t have to run to Edmonton for a career. They can stay right here in their home base.”
Taralee Warehime, an occupational therapist in Barrhead, said she was hoping to get students interested in the different positions available through Alberta Health. The booth saw a lot of kids asking a lot of good questions, she said.
“We had a few kids come to our booth, and they didn’t even know what some of these professions were,” said Warehime. “It was good to give some insight to them. Expand their knowledge of what’s out there.”
Grade 13 student Amy Jacula and Amy Swanson both agreed this year’s GROWTH expo had a lot more to offer than last year. With a higher number of booths, the two girls said they found the event helpful when it came to figuring out where to go after high school.
A lot of students wouldn’t know where else to get the information they need for enrolling in a course, said Swanson. The GROWTH expo provides one place to get information through conversation, as well as a variety of pamphlets, brochures and booklets.
“A lot of these booklets, they give you the requirements you need, where it is, the tuition,” she said.
“ I’ve been on a lot of websites online and it doesn’t even say the requirements, but these books do,” added Jacula. “It helps you figure out what you need in high school to get where you want to go.”
Though the expo was quite helpful to students nearing graduation in terms of figuring out their next steps, younger students also appreciated the event.
Before 15-year-old Hayley Lynn attended the expo, she said she wasn’t aware of the broad range of career choices she could make after high school.
“I thought it was all that simple stuff, like selling insurance, watching kids, staying at home, hair,” she said. “There are more options than what I thought, like the trades booth.”
Kerstin Degner, 14, said the expo really showed her a variety of paths she could take, and kick-started a thought process about her future.
“There’s a lot that goes through a 14-year-old’s mind about their life,” said Degner.
“Even though we still have a few years to figure out something, it kind of got me thinking about what I should do.”
Information about what high school classes to take in order to get a certain job is what 15-year-old Amalia Lind said she found most helpful. She, along with 14-year-old Lyssa Fluet also said it was interesting to see how many different post-secondary education institutions are out there.
