Passport to Prosperity

What’s in a Fingerprint?
A Co-op Placement at the Ontario Science Centre

It is fierce competition trying to land a co-op placement at the Ontario Science Centre, but Joyce Cheng – who was a grade 12 student at St. Roberts Catholic High School in York region last year – managed to do just that. Joyce loved the television show CSI and thought it would be pretty cool to try her hand at investigating.

As a biology student, Joyce was impressed with the opportunity to work in a DNA finger-testing lab and in the educational centre; she had hands-on lab experience, as well as a chance to do some teaching. Joyce wanted to explore forensic science, but thought that teaching might be interesting as well. Her co-op placement allowed her to test the waters and reinforced the idea of combining her interests.

"I learned more about how the DNA process works – there’s a lot more to it than what you read in a biology text book," says Joyce.

Joyce was responsible for setting up and cleaning the lab, and gathering and preparing lab materials. Because the lab is also used as part of the curriculum in the educational programs at the Science Centre, Joyce had the opportunity to help science educators with the program and take part in science demonstrations. As a bonus, Joyce created new handouts for younger students to use. Her supervisor noticed when she needed to be challenged and pushed her to try new things.

The skills that Joyce now uses in her university biology lab are those that she learned at the Science Centre. She encourages all students to try co-op placements, a great way to explore possible career paths.

Ontario Employers Identify Skills for the Workplace

What skills and attributes do high school students need to be successful in the workplace? According to two Ontario employer focus groups who met in November 2004, there are many:

Students can enhance their workplace environments by:

• Being problem solvers
• Showing initiative
• Providing creative ideas
• Providing energy and enthusiasm in the workplace

The employers in the focus groups agreed that work experiences help students increase their self-confidence and learn more about workplace norms and practices. They also suggested students can benefit from exposure to a variety of careers, ranging from customer service to manufacturing.

Overall, Ontario employers felt that it is important to provide work experiences to students in communities across the province through Passport to Prosperity

School-Work Opportunities
Finding the Option that Suits Your Workplace

School-work opportunities can accommodate any employer’s busy schedule.

Employers need only commit an hour a day – giving a career talk, attending a career fair or facilitating a workplace tour to promote their line of business as a possible career option. Job-shadowing can take place over one or two days, pairing a student with an employee to observe activities in the workplace.

Employers can also custom-design a placement that lasts from one to four weeks for students to gain hands-on experience as part of their school curriculum. The longer term option of co-op is also available over several months. Two co-op placements are highlighted in this Update.

Ongoing mentoring throughout the year gives employers a chance to act as role models and to advise students on career and life options.

Your local business-education council or training board can provide you with more details about how you can get involved in your community. For more information please visit: www.olpg.on.ca/

Educator Profile: Karen Pal

Karen Pal believes that it is critical to help students realize their goals in life. A teacher at Downsview Secondary School, Ms. Pal is a curriculum leader for special education. Four years ago, Ms. Pal helped create a co-operative education option for the students in her program, as many of them were headed straight to the workforce after graduation and urgently needed more work experience. The students have gained marketable skills in their co-op placements – skills that have helped them find jobs.

Once Ms. Pal has recruited a willing employer, she then sets up a three-way meeting. She establishes a relationship with the employer and a line of communication. She is there to support both the students and the employers.

"Preparing the students in advance is a must," says Ms. Pal. All of the students are instructed as to the employer’s expectations of them in the workplace, since many of them have no previous work experience.

What does she like most about her job? "I like seeing the students become responsible young adults; seeing them blossom," says Ms. Pal. "At school, many students had difficulty demonstrating their skills and talents, and now – in many cases – the employers have come to rely on them."

Matching Students with Employers:
Working Together to Reach the Same Goals

There are currently more than 700,000 students attending 830 secondary schools in the public and separate school systems in Ontario. There are approximately 23,000 employers offering work experience opportunities to students, but the numbers just don’t add up.

High school teachers have identified specific occupational areas that students want to explore, but which are short on placements. Meanwhile, many employers know they are facing a shortage of workers in specific areas and want to encourage more young people to enter their fields.

Here are just a few of the areas in which student placements are being sought and in which workplace shortages have been identified:

Students are also looking for work experience opportunities in the following employment areas:

ATTENTION ALL EMPLOYERS IN ALL SECTORS.

Offering students work experience can be a great way to address anticipated shortages and expose students to dynamic career choices in local communities. Let’s bring these interests together.