By BW Staff
Kelowna, British Columbia — May 30, 2018 — Okanagan College recently held one of its Discovery Day events for the students of School District 22 in Vernon. The college has been hosting the Discovery Days for nearly a decade at several of its campuses. Occasions such as these often allow for that crucial first contact to happen, where a student has the potential to realize their love for collision repair.
“I started this event to give youth an opportunity to get a practical picture of what it’s like to work in a variety of trades, give them hands on experience building projects and using tools,” says Dianne Holm, marketing and recruitment, Okanagan College. “Some kids do not have access to tools at home and this helps to familiarize them and given them a better understanding of their own capabilities.”
Once a year the surrounding school districts are given the option to bring their students to Okanagan for Discovery Day, where the students can sign up for three to five hands-on sessions. When schools are unable make the trip, the college loads everything the event needs into a trailer and brings it directly to them. “Students that come to our Kelowna event are grades 9-12 and when we go out to the districts we invite grade 7-12 and the community to attend,” says Holm.
Attendees of the Discovery Day events are also treated with the opportunity to use the college’s virtual reality equipment, which has recently been integrated into the trade programs curricula.
“It’s pretty cool to see the focus on youths faces as they working with tools and then their smiles of accomplishment,” she says. “This has been a big hit for parents who attend. It demystifies the trades for them and they are more likely to encourage their kids to look at trades careers in the future.”
Holm concludes by saying that the college often sees the students who discover their passion for the trades return for other events and eventually enrol in the program of their choice.
For more information on Okanagan College, visit okanagan.bc.ca.
