The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 31, 2006 - 33 Co-op students and skilled trades at TAB career fair By Eryl McCaffrey SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER More than 1,500 high school students, 30 co-op students and 35 businesses were the components that made T. A. Blakelock's career fair a huge success this year. Starting in November, Blakelock High School has been preparing for this year's apprenticeship and trades fair, under the organization of Lorraine Yuill, coop teacher at Blakelock and other administrative staff members. The apprenticeship and trades fair took place on May 10 from 9:30 a.m. 2 p.m. and covered all areas of the professional world. From architecture, to teaching, from dentistry to journalism, over 30 students created display boards to exhibit their experiences at their Co-op placements. Yuill feels this year's apprenticeship and trades fair was a very big success, simply because of the positive feedback and the smiles on the students' faces. "It was a huge amount of work trying to plan and prepare for the fair this year, but we got great feedback from the community and people who attended it," she said. In the past years, Blakelock has semi-annually hosted career fairs for students participating in the co-op program to display an educational board and inform other students on their placements. The message that Yuill and the other teachers aimed to project to students this year was there are many opportunities available in the apprenticeship and trades fields. "It was also really important for us to try and send out the message that women can pursue non-traditional roles in trades, many young women are unaware of the opportunities that are out there for them in less common careers," said Yuill. Blakelock's career fair was planned on a much grander scale this year to exhibit not only co-op students, but also numerous businesses in Oakville. The Canadian Armed Forces, International Academy of Design, Scott Steel Erectors Inc., and COBS Bread were just some of the companies and businesses at this year's fair. With a committee consisting of teachers in the student services department, Yuill was able to arrange for many local businesses to participate in this year's fair. "What I really hoped for was to make students more aware of different careers and apprenticeships and of the trades that are available to them," said Yuill. The main focus of Blakelock's career fair this year was apprenticeships and trades. The Ministry of Education strongly encourages students participate in co-op programs because of the importance of having work experience before pursuing post-secondary education. Yuill said the shortage of skilled trades workers in Canada has placed them in demand. "There has often CAREER FAIR: Participating in T. A. Blakelock High School's recent career fair are co-op students Eryl McCaffrey who is completing her co-op at The Oakville Beaver, skilled trades representatives Jodee Hancock and Jacob Akkerman from Scott Steel Erectors Inc., and student Jane Jensen who is completing her co-op placement at Brookdale Public School. been a stigma around trades and so Jane Jensen, a student from we're trying to get rid of that because Blakelock, displayed her board on her most skill trades workers are very co-op placement at Brookdale Public wealthy and can be entrepreneurial," School as a teacher assistant. Jensen said Yuill. felt the fair was moving at a particular- ly fast pace and was seemingly more successful than she had initially thought it would be. "It's a bit overwhelming here, there are a lot of exhibitors and extravagant displays, but this is a good idea because it really gets the Co-op program out there," Jane said. A perfect example of how co-op can benefit high school students is Cynthia McGill's story. As a Grade 11 student from T.A. Blakelock, McGill can vouch for the co-op program and its significance. Her experience in her first placement at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (O.T.M.H) was less than favorable. Despite years of planning and choosing specific courses, McGill discovered that a career in the medical profession was not for her. It was only through the co-op program that she was able to adjust her courses and her post-secondary path to better suit her abilities and interests. Now at a law office in Oakville, McGill is thankful to have had the opportunity to change her path now rather than later in life, at what might have been a greater cost. With over 35 businesses from Oakville in attendance at Blakelock's fair, many exhibitors felt the competition was fierce. -- Eryl McCaffrey is a Blakelock co-op student working at The Oakville Beaver during her placement. 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