Hundreds of high school students from the South Okanagan got a glimpse of the college experience.
The doors of Okanagan College’s Penticton, B.C., campus have been opened to 200 students looking to get some clarity on their future.
“We have all of our program faculties out and then there’s a variety of sessions students can choose from,” said Laura MacMillan, recruitment officer of Okanagan College.
The students have a chance to attend 27 different sessions covering many of the programs that the college offers in the arts, sciences, trades, business, technology and more.
Professor chair of biology, Morgan Martin, has come up with a clever ruse to get the students excited about science.
“Students are learning today some techniques that we use in the biology lab and we are solving a candy crime, we have a murder mystery and students are going to use DNA technology techniques to solve that mystery,” said Martin.
For Grade 10 student, Lena Berukoff, solving the candy-coated crime in the biology lab is exactly what she needed for her career planning.
Early childhood development instructor Rebecca Ayotte is teaching the young students about the program.
“Early childhood development is where you are helping foster young children from zero to 12 years old, so we really get into the developmental domains of how children grow and what they need and those milestones and to be able to be there to support,” said Ayotte.
Savanna Van Drimmelen has always wanted to help people, and the Grade 10 student says that the ECE program is a good fit for her.
“I have always been really interested in helping people and I feel like that really comes into play in early childhood development,” said Van Drimmelen.
Immersing students in the college experience not only gives the students the confidence to pursue their career dreams but also shows them the way to achieve them by joining the college’s community.