PEMBROKE – More than 250 Renfrew County students will show off their skilled trades skills in competition during Options 2015 on Thursday, May 14.
The 13th Renfrew County Skills Competition takes place at the Pembroke Memorial Centre. Nearly 300 Renfrew County and Pontiac County high school students have registered in disciplines such as Small Engine, Welding, Team Carpentry, Cabinet making, Culinary, Hairstyling, Nail Art, Pit Stop Challenge, Desktop Publishing and Digital Photography. This year a new category was added to the line up – horticulture and landscape.
“A Specialist High Skills Major crew from Opeongo High School will be demonstrating their skills outside the PMC,” Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) liaison Terry Hoelke said. “Also, the Renfrew County forestry industry is participating in a demonstration which is also new this year.”
The students will go head to head in their disciplines showing off the skills they have learned as part of OYAP. The OYAP is a secondary school co-operative education program that allows students to participate in an apprenticeship occupation, while working towards their Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Senior secondary students enrolled in a co-operative education course make the connection between what happens in the classroom and what happens in the workplace. It provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate curriculum expectations in an authentic real life situation.
“Area businesses hand out their cards and are looking to hire,” Mr. Hoelke said. “That happens. They’re literally asking about the competitors. This works for our kids, it really does.”
Options 2015 is more than a skills competition. Options has grown to become one of the largest skilled trades career fairs in Eastern Ontario. More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the event along with the hundreds of students and their parents.
Attendees will be able to access information on apprenticeship training and job opportunities in and around the Ottawa Valley.
“It’s a spectacular show,” Mr. Hoelke said. “It’s a great showcase for our kids and our kids do quite well in the competition too, not that we count.”
Options 2015 is supported by many organizations including the OYAP and is hosted by Algonquin College and Renfrew County’s four district school boards. The event is free to the public to attend and is held at the Pembroke Memorial Centre.
Options 2015 also has a Skilled Trades Fair which is an opportunity for businesses to promote careers in the skilled trades as viable, first-choice career options for young people. There is also a Career Fair – an area designated to employers looking to promote and discuss the types of jobs that exist within their organizations, without actively recruiting.
