Each year, school districts and employers across Canada support an event called Take Our Kids to Work Day. Initiated by The Learning Partnership, this event falls on the first Wednesday of November.
The event is an opportunity for grade 9 students to spend a day in the workplace of parents, friends or relatives. It is an opportunity for students to develop an appreciation of their parents’ career roles, to understand the skills necessary to work in a variety of occupations and to consider the wide range of careers possible as they visit worksites.
In Surrey we hosted a group of students at the District Education Centre. When I first heard that they were coming, I put myself on the list to spend lunch with the students and also made an offer to one student to do a guest writeup for my blog so others could hear about the students’ day and experiences. I was thrilled to get the time with the students and welcomed the blog opportunity as a way to share the stories.
It was a great day, I enjoyed it very much and here is the writeup done by one of our students, Ethan Carlson.
Today I spent the day at my mother’s workplace, SD36 Board Office for Grade 9 “Take Your Kids To Work Day”. I was shocked to discover that my mother is not the Superintendent of Schools like she told me. I also learned my mother has a secret stash of junk food she has never told us about. I took a tour with six other grade nines around the school district building which is so large it holds a college, Surrey College and a school, Surrey Connect, for students from kindergarten to grade twelve. I even had an opportunity to get a free haircut by some student hairdressers but unfortunately my mother had just massacred my hair on Monday. Talk about timing!
Surrey School District is the largest school district in British Columbia with 70 000 students; however, I was disappointed to find out each student is only worth $8 200. I thought we were worth more than that! The School District is also the largest employer in Surrey with about 9 300 employees. Surrey Schools has over 1,000 Teachers On Call; on the day we visited, 410 TOCs were out on the job. We had lunch with the Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Tinney, who knows a lot. Obviously, that must be a requirement for being a Deputy Superintendent in Surrey!
We as students usually only see school board employees like teachers, principals, secretaries, custodians and childcare workers; however, at the Surrey School Board Office there’s a whole army of individuals working behind the school scenes. I highly recommend going to Surrey School District Board Office for “Take Your Kid To Work Day” because there are so many career opportunities all in one building and furthermore, the district did a fantastic job in hosting us.
I want to thank Ethan for his straight from the heart post. It certainly gives the flavour of what was a whirlwind day thanks to great organzation by staff and the many hosts. The students had a very full day and saw everything from Human Resources to Finance, Planning, Student Services and Curriculum. For my time, I enjoyed talking with them about the impact of social media and technology on the classroom. I know we’ll certanly look forward to next year when I think at lunch we’ll ask the students to help us build a school!