Roads to Success career fair draws Sun West students to AGT Centre

By Ian MacKay

High school students from across the Sun West School Division got a chance to learn about potential careers here last week.

The school division held its Roads to Success career fair at the AGT Centre on Thursday. Representatives of local and provincial businesses, and of institutions of higher learning such as Saskatchewan Polytechnic, answered questions, had displays and in some cases offered hands-on experiences.

Jordan Kammer of Impact Energy Services shows a high school student how electrical connections work during the Sun West School Division career fair at the AGT Centre on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Ian MacKay

Chelsea Omness, right, who manages the swimming pool in Kindersley, and Bobbi Hebron of the Rivers West sport, culture and recreation district listen to a question from a student during the Sun West School Division's Roads to Success career fair at the AGT Centre on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Ian MacKay

"We've had quite a few students" showing interest at the Impact Energy Services display, Jordan Kammer said.

"This is a really good career fair," Kammer said. "It's nice to see all the students from across the Sun West School Division."

He had a "backboard" that held several different electrical connections. One part was "a typical residential connection with remote control lighting or lighting controlled by a cell phone," he explained.

Another was an oil and gas setup where connections were for "tanks filling up, pumps engaging at certain rates, changing of valves and diverting the fluid to a different area," he said.

A third reflected the controls for an industrial operation, with audible and visual alarms, that would turn on a certain piece of machinery, Kammer said.

"A fair number" of those who stopped by seemed interested in an electrical career, he said.

"I think a lot of students are just trying to figure out what they want to do," Kammer said.

Besides careers, "we talked about volunteerism, we talked about the Summer and the Winter Games," said Bobbi Hebron, the Rivers West community development co-ordinator from Kerrobert. "We had lots of different things to connect on."

Chelsea Omness, the aquatics manager in Kindersley, who had part of the recreation, culture and sport agency's space, "talked to a lot of kids about lifeguarding," Hebron said. "There's a lifeguarding shortage. There was a lot of interest."

She blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the lack of lifeguards.

"It was hard to run courses then," Hebron explained.

"A lot of it comes down to, everyone's really busy," Omness said. "The courses take a lot of commitment, time and effort that people just don't have a lot of anymore, which can make it a little challenging, for sure."

"The people who put on the career fair did an incredible job" and students were "engaged," Hebron said.

"We said that throughout the day: (students) were very plugged in," she said. "They had good questions and all of them were a pleasure to visit with, too."

Students could use Saskatchewan Polytechnic's carpentry tools and were told that those completing that course can move directly into the second year of an apprenticeship.

The SaskPower display allowed students to try to lower balloons from a height using an extendable tool topped by a hook.

Regal Motors, St. John Ambulance, the RCMP and paramedics were among others with displays and representatives inside the arena, while the Highways Department and conservation officers had a plow truck and a trailer, respectively, outside.