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New Website & Classroom Resources to Introduce Students to Careers in Skilled Trades & Technologies

Discover Skills BC is BC’s #1 online resource 
for exploring careers in skilled trades and technologies.

Vancouver, BC, November 22, 2012 | Today, introducing students to careers in trades and technologies in BC just got a whole lot easier. Discover Skills BC, an initiative of Trades Training BC (the 15 post-secondary institutions that provide trades training in BC), has launched a redesign of the Discover Skills BC website and new classroom resources to support the exploration of careers in trades and technologies.

The new Discover Skills BC website contains comprehensive career exploration resources for students, classroom resources for educators and important career and post-secondary training information for parents.

Students will find over 50 in-demand trades and technologies career pathways to explore, peer-to-peer videos to watch, a career survey and links for more specific career information, including salary, expected job demand and how and where to get post-secondary training.

Educators can access new classroom resources to support the exploration of trades and technologies careers for grades 4/5, 6/7 and 8/9 that align with BC's new curriculum. All modules, complete with blackline masters and rubrics, can be easily incorporated into the classroom - no shop or special tools required. Although the resources most closely align with Applied Design, Skills and Technologies (ADST) and Career Education, they can be adapted and integrated into other subject areas such as Science, Social Studies, Math and Language Arts. All the resources are free and can be downloaded in both MS Word and PDF format from the Discover Skills BC website.

And for parents of students embarking on post-secondary and career decisions, there is a host of valuable information on the types of careers available, demand for these careers, salary and job information as well as the type of post-secondary training required.

 “We’ve found that early exposure to careers in trades and technologies helps students consider these careers as a viable option when they get older. In the coming decade, forty-two per cent of the almost one million predicted job openings will require college or apprenticeship training. Most of these jobs will be in skilled trades and technologies.  We want to share this information with students and parents so they can discover these rewarding careers for themselves,” said Kelly Betts, President of Skills BC.

“Employers in BC, Canada and globally are looking for graduates with job-ready trades and technology skills, the vast majority of whom find jobs in their career of choice. To meet this increasing and ongoing demand, we need teachers and parents to share information about these amazing careers with today’s young students so they can make more fully informed decisions about their future education and careers. Discover Skills BC provides accessible and clear information and resources for teachers, parents and today’s students who may become tomorrow’s trades and technology leaders,” said Kathy Kinloch, President of BCIT and chair of Trades Training BC.

The new Discover Skills BC website and classroom resources will be presented to educators attending the Career Education Society Fall Conference and through Skills BC at InSpire (In School Presentation) events held throughout BC.

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Discover Skills BC is an initiative funded by the BC Government to increase the number of students who pursue a career in skilled trades and technology.  Discover Skills BC is led by Trades Training BC (a consortium of the 15 public post-secondary educational institutions that offer trades programming in BC) and in partnership with Skills BC.


All media requests for Discover Skills BC should be sent to:
Alix Cameron, RedCAB Communications, 604-839-2770
Cindy Ball, RedCAB Communications, 604-828-8050

Province of British Columbia Trades Training BC Skills Canada BC
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