Annual career fair aims to set kids on right path
- Jeanelle Mandes | May 11, 2015
The Stepping Stones Career Fair was a great success with a huge turnout of students visiting a variety of booths.
Elementary and high school students were given a complementary University of Regina bag to insert the information they receive from booths such as emergency service to the educational booths.
Riley Sunshine from Fishing Lake attended the career fair to see what kind of career he’s interested in. The Grade 10 student has considered possible careers in the trades, the.RC.M.P or something in law. He says it’s important for students to venture their curiosity at career fairs to understand what is available to them.
“[It’s] to help them out, to have a brighter future and educate them young,” says Sunshine.
A group of 10 volunteers put on the event every year with intentions of fulfilling their mission to “to provide First Nation, Mètis and Inuit youth with the opportunity to explore career paths while encouraging them in education necessary to succeed,” according to their website.
The event is usually geared to serve the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population of youth in the province. Students arrive on busses and some travel from out of Regina to participate in the expanding event.
There were specific booths geared towards recruiting youth to pursue a future post-secondary education. Jessica Dieter, who will be graduating next month with an Indigenous Education Degree, volunteered to recruit potential students to the First Nations University of Canada booth. She says it’s crucial for the youth to venture the choices that are out there for them.
“It gives people a chance to see all the different opportunities that are out there for them,” says Dieter. “It’s great to see all the youth that are out here and this is great place to learn about your future, it’s a stepping stone.”
Jakob McNabb from Carry The Kettle First Nation, says he enjoyed his field trip to the career fair especially playing booth bingo.
“You go around asking questions, they give you a number and you can hand it in [after it’s filled up] for a chance for a PS4,” says McNabb with hopes of studying at the University of Saskatchewan to be a psychologist.
The event was hosted at the Evraz Place in Regina on May 6th and this year marked their 10 years of organizing a popular career fair in the city.
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