Every year for the last many years, 8th grade students from SMS (and NMS) attend Economics for Success with Junior Achievement. Economics for Success talks about budgeting, finances, banking, and careers. A few months ago, Junior Achievement reached out to me and asked if SMS wanted to pilot for the province a brand new program called Tech World of Choices - a possible new program about tech careers in Alberta and the excitement of doing a career in tech in Alberta. We jumped at this opportunity and were honoured to be chosen. JA told us that “there was no other school they could think of better than FFCA to help pilot this program” and collect feedback from. It was a fantastic morning filled with robotics, gaming, technology in fashion, and computers - lots of computers! I asked Elly and Jasmyn from my LA class to reflect on the morning.
Mr. Gindin
By: Elly Cheema & Jasmyn Liu
Today, the 8th graders at FFCA SMS went to SAIT College to explore and learn about careers in the technology field led by astounding volunteers and instructors who guided us throughout the day.
First arriving at school, our teachers gave us t-shirts provided by the college for us to wear throughout the trip, each class getting a different colour with the mutual I Love Alberta Tech printed on them. When we first arrived at SAIT, we were greeted with a warm welcome from all of the individuals who would be attending to us. The guides accompanied us into an auditorium to get a brief understanding and introduction of how the trip would go through speeches and lectures. While being spoken to by the instructors, we recognized the passion and perseverance the speakers had about their careers and their interest in tech, which only made the speech so much more captivating. It was a pleasant experience as the speakers planned out simple yet meaningful lectures to present to us grade eights.
After this, each class was guided to their first of three breakout sessions, explaining how tech can impact our daily lives. We thoroughly appreciated the effort visibly implemented into each activity, making them amusing and educational to experience. There were six breakout sessions in total, and each class got to experience three of the six. Although all of the sessions were very enjoyable, some that stood out to the grade eights the most were The Sustainability Maze in Minecraft, where we interacted with our peers and explored mazes created by students and graduates. As well as this, we also got to have experience in building our models following a specific theme. Another one that we found grade eights enjoyed the most was the 3D Printing and Modeling station, where the students got to learn and uncover the arts of 3D printing. This station elaborates on how 3D printing and modelling can impact our construction and design fields. Students also got to experience 3D designing with online software.
Overall, the 8th graders of SMS had a delightful experience visiting the SAIT College. We would certainly recommend it to other schools interested in introducing their students to technology-based careers.
