HCC students gain valuable work experience

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Four Holy Cross Collegiate students got to experience ‘Take Our Kids to Work’ day on Nov. 4.
It’s a day where kids have the opportunity to go to work with their parents to understand the importance of staying in school, and what it’s like to experience hands on training to be successful in the workplaces they were interested in.
Victoria Pedersen took ‘Take Our Kids to Work’ day to a whole new level as she flew to Ottawa for Remembrance Day to spend the day with her grandfather George Haway, who just celebrated his 20th anniversary of being a pilot and will be retiring in February.
She flew with her grandfather for the third time from Calgary to Ottawa and back, and was able to soak it all in about being a pilot as well as taking in the War Memorial and Remembrance Day Ceremony in the nation’s capital.
“I was always interested in his job, more than my parent’s job,” said Pedersen. “I flicked a few switches but other than that, I couldn’t really touch anything. It may be something I would like to do later in life.”
Pedersen always loved to travel and enjoys seeing new places, but learning how to be a pilot intrigued her because of her grandfather, and she learned more than she has ever before about what they do on a daily basis.
“As a pilot, there is three pages, and it’s a checklist that you have to follow in order to get the plane started,” said Pedersen. “There are other security purposes and requirements you need while flying to keep everyone safe.”
She added that pre-flight is the longest process before take-off, and noticed when people are coming from a different country that they can’t have any access to any passengers or crew from the previous flight because of the fear of smuggling things into the country.
Colby Tanton spent the day at Prolux Lighting, where his dad works, and learned about electrical fixture quoting and stock, and at the same time learned about lighting design periodically throughout the day.
“I just decided to go with him because it looked exciting,” said Tanton. “I learned how to work with the softwares they use to price the electrical quotes and talk to people to get a better deal.”
What made the day more enjoyable for Tanton is he always looked up to his dad; that made it fun, knowing he worked his whole life in the industry, and also getting to see his architectural designs of one of the rooms he was building.
Chase Stefanich had the opportunity to experience screen developing for employer websites at ATB Financial.
“There’s a lot you need to know and no room for error,” said Stefanich. “I learned a lot about the coding and how to make it better.”
He added that he’d have to keep updated as to what’s new in the industry if he were to pursue this career path.
Reid Jensen went to work construction for the day with his dad, renovating a house, which included a whole bathroom, an area he noticed that you have to have patience with to do properly.
“It’s a good thing to know because you’re going to have to use it later in life,” said Jensen.
“It actually helps you improve in stuff you do in daily life like carpentry. We did a master bedroom and two bathrooms.”
The most important things about renovating his dad taught are the different techniques for grouting tiles.
“You have to be aware of where stuff is going to be placed, where the pipes are going to go and if a leak happens, using the proper techniques so you don’t flood it.”
His favourite parts of the experience were installing the shower and encountering a burst pipe.