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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
More than 200 Grade 8 students got hands-on career experience during the annual Power Up Conference last week.

The conference, organized by Skills Canada NWT, is divided into days of career exploration, said executive director Jan Fullerton.

"One for Grade 8 boys and one for Grade 8 girls," she explained. "Basically, the idea is to give all of the kids a chance to try some things hands-on to see what they like, what they don't like, what they find they have a natural talent in, what they maybe want to avoid in the future."

Prior to the conference, students were given a list of possible workshops and asked to rank their top 10 choices.

Students were then assigned to three workshops chosen to expose them to some of their top choices, said Fullerton.

This year's subjects included carpentry, welding, mechanics, cooking, baking, aesthetics, RCMP careers, water treatment engineering, Canadian Forces careers, property maintenance, aviation careers, geology, and politics, among others.

The workshops were led by local experts from industry, the public sector, or within the education system.

"The main thing is just to give Grade 8 students a chance to ... try different things on before they have to be making choices about what courses they're going to take in high school," Fullerton said. "That's why we target the Grade 8 students, because they are at that kind of crossroads.

"They're starting to think about what they want to do when they're older. They're going to be picking their courses (for Grade 9) ... just after Christmas."

Abigale Coad and Lauren Eggenberger were two Grade 9 students who attended the conference last year and returned to help out this year.

Coad tried out the welding workshop while Eggenberger tried workshops on engineering and water treatment systems.

"I took them because it was something that I'd never tried before," said Eggenberger.

Both students said they hadn't found the career they wanted just yet, but appreciated the opportunity to learn about a career they'd been thinking about.

Seth Sanspariel, a Grade 8 student who attended the conference on Tuesday, had tried baking in his first workshop.

Eyeing the robust plate of cinnamon buns he'd made that morning, Sanspariel admitted that, while he doesn't think he'll pursue a career as a cook or baker, he did value the life skills the workshop taught him.

"I'll probably use (what I learned) at home," he said.

The conference for Grade 8 girls had 122 registrants on Nov. 19 and the boy's conference on Nov. 20 had 111 registrants.

Fullerton said the majority of students were from Yellowknife and Ndilo but other participants came from Behchoko, Dettah and Whati.

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