Did you know…

Three out of four Manitoba businesses can't find the skilled workers they require.*

*According to a 2006 survey commissioned by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and consulting firm Meyers Norris Penny.

 

 

Ask 15-year-old Loren Soriano if she plans on attending university one day and the answer registers across her face. Her eyes light up and her smile grows wide.

The biggest challenge for the inner-city teenager isn't finding the motivation to pursue a post-secondary education - she appears determined - but rather narrowing it down to just one field of study.

Loren is torn between Engineering and Accounting. "I'm a math person," the Grade 9 student explains, moments after drilling a screw into the wooden frame of an aquaponics system she and her Career Trek cohorts helped design in their Engineering class.

...they get a lot out of this hands-on experience...

Engineering is one of 10 occupational fields teens can pick from in Career Trek's Phase 2 Project. Students spend two hours every week (for one school year) learning directly from professionals who work in the field.

Members of non-profit organization Engineers Without Borders (EWB) are teaching Loren and her classmates about sustainable development and its link to reducing poverty in Third World countries.

 

The project they're working on will be home to several fish whose waste will act as fertilizer to nourish a garden and grow fresh tomatoes. In years previous, the engineering students in Career Trek's Phase 2 Project built a press to make peanut butter and a manually-motored treadle pump (similar to exercise machine the Step Master) used to irrigate crops.

Instead of spending their weeknights at home in front of the TV, these teens head to the University of Manitoba's Engineering building to learn how to make water filters or de-husk rice.

It's a place where X-Box gets replaced with online challenges that have students acting as head of the household in struggling countries like Haiti. They face some tough decisions: Can they afford to send the kids to school or should they put them to work on the family farm?

The students say they get a lot out of this hands-on experience - and so do the instructors. "It's pretty great to see a kid seize onto an idea," says EWB's Richard Chaput.

 

Completing a Career Trek program is a huge accomplishment and worth celebrating.

For Phase 2, family members are invited for a final event that gives participants a chance to show off what they learned during their industry-specific tutorials. For new media students, this meant presenting their e-portfolios. Meanwhile, aspiring actors held two theatre performances and aerospace Trekkers launched homemade rockets.

"Towards the end of the year, their confidence level goes through the roof," says Project Manager Chris Tekpetey, "and a camaraderie builds amongst all of these kids who are from different schools."

 

 

The Phase 2 Project is funded by:

PHASE 2 PROJECT

what it is

This is Career Trek's second level of programming, where students are provided with an in-depth experience in a specific field of their choice.

who it's for
what it's about
what career fields students
can choose from
commitment
In Their Own Words
PROJECT GOALS

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