Welcome to the Skills Ontario International day of the Girl conference, for girls and those who identify as girls by girls! My name is Jenn Green, Director of Competitions and Young Women’s Initiatives at Skills Ontario - but I am also an industrial millwright. which is a Skilled Trade! Did you know that a Millwright is like a doctor, but for machines? I love my work because I get to talk and educate girls about all the amazing opportunities the skilled trades and technologies can bring! Skills Ontario is abiding by all health and safety guidelines as instructed by public health authorities, and is following protocol to ensure our team is continuing to operate safely and responsibly. Before we begin, we would like to begin with a land acknowledgement. I want to acknowledge that the province of Ontario is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Cree and the Métis people. There are 46 treaties covering the province of Ontario including three numbered treaties, two Robinson treaties, two Williams treaties and 30 Upper Canada treaties. We recognize and deeply appreciate their historic connection to this place.
We also recognize the contributions Indigenous peoples have made in shaping and strengthening this community. International Day of the Girl was established by the United Nations in 2012. It is internationally recognized as a day to stop and acknowledge girls, their rights, education and opportunities. Let's seize the opportunity to reimagine a brighter, more balanced and evolved world inspired by adolescent girls – energized and recognized, counted and invested in. Skills Ontario is proud to be Ontario’s leader for promoting skilled trades to young women. Through our Young Women’s Initiatives program, we offer some amazing events that are both fun and educational. Regional events, young women’s conferences, Junk Drawer Races, and opportunities like this one to
present to all girls that there is a place for them in the world of skilled trades and technologies! If you have further questions about the conference or our many exciting programs, please email Skills Ontario or visit our website. Let’s begin with some housekeeping items, though. One: Connect with us! Follow us on social media! Two: Our hashtags for today are #SkillsIDG2021. Take a picture selfie of yourself watching this conference or doing something skilled trade related, post and tag on Twitter @skillsontario, for a chance to win a prize! Winners will be contacted by private message on Twitter. If you don’t have social media, no sweat! Email us at ywc@skillsontario.com Three: At the end of this conference there will be an event survey, with another chance to win prizes! Completing these surveys assist us in continually improving our events for you! Four: Content for today’s event will be spoken in English but will also include French closed captioning on display.
I would like to take the time to say thank you to our Young Women’s Initiatives Program Sponsors: the Government of Ontario, Magna and our conference supporting sponsor, Sound Events. Before we begin, we will review our agenda for the day. To start, we will have guest speakers to offer welcoming remarks. And a keynote speaker, a female tradeswoman, to share about her journey into the skilled trades.
Next, we will be introducing and welcoming our panel discussion speakers: four young ladies aged 8 to 10. They will describe what being a girl is like for them, and will interview our keynote speaker tradeswomen to find out more about being a woman working in the skilled trades. Earlier, I mentioned I was an industrial millwright. “What on earth is an Industrial Millwright” you're asking? A millwright is a doctor, but for machines! Some machines I fixed were as small as a table, others as big as a house! These machines made car parts, but Millwrights also fix the machines that make cookies or shampoo, even a roller coaster is a machine! If you broke your arm for example, you would go to the doctor, have some tests done like an x-ray, perhaps a cast and physiotherapy to make your arm function properly. If a machine has an alarm, a Millwright has to complete tests to find the problem, find what’s not working, fix the problem, and making sure it works properly again – just like an arm in a cast! We do a little bit of everything from problem solving, mechanics, electrical, welding, machining, fluid power, blue print reading and more! Sometimes, people are surprised that I’m a millwright because I am a girl. Today, I’ve brought one of my favourite tools with me today to share, as the girls will also be sharing their favourite tools later on! It is a Robertson Screwdriver! A Robertson is in the shape of a square and comes in various sizes which are described by a colour; green, red and black. It was invented by a Canadian, named P.L. Robertson in 1908 to solve a common problem found with the flathead screwdriver which would slip out of place when fastening screw, where the square catches in the corner and stays.
Robertson patented both the square head screw and corresponding screwdriver in 1909. Today, it is used in many different applications, across various industries and sections, and you will commonly see it on deck screws used by Carpenters. At this time, I would like to introduce and welcome the Honorable Jane McKenna, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. Thank you for joining us, Minister. Hello everyone, I’m Jane McKenna, Ontario’s Associate Minister of Children and Women’s issues. I’m delighted to welcome you as you participate in this exciting event hosted by Skills Ontario.
It might interest you to know that in addition to being the Minister for Children and Women’s Issues, I’m also a mother of five, and grandmother of four, with another one on the way. I know that often the things we learn and experience as young people can have a lasting impact on us throughout our lives. In my case, my mother passed away when I was 10 – and every morning as I was leaving the house she would say “Jane, go out and make a difference.” I thought at the time being so young it was an odd thing to say, and yet when I had my own children, I said it to them every morning. As young people, you have endless options available to you, and today you have a wonderful opportunity to explore careers in every sector, including in skilled trades and technology – jobs that have not traditionally been filled by women. In fact, women make up a little less than five per cent of skilled trade workers in Canada.
We need more innovative women to take on these incredible industries that are filled with opportunities. Whatever your interests, there’s a path for you! If you love nature, you can care for our trees as an arborist. You can create the latest culinary sensation as a chef. You can construct buildings from the ground up in any number of trades founds in the construction sector.
Or if technology is more exciting you can develop websites, apps and more. The possibilities are endless, and the only limit is your own desire. Today is an opportunity for you to explore different fields and see what might inspire you. Take every chance you can to learn about the endless opportunities available. Whatever career path you choose is up to you.
And what better way to learn than by engaging with the amazing mentors, teachers and leaders that are around you to vouch for the many benefits of a rewarding career in the skilled trades and technologies. I encourage you to be curious, ask questions and be open to exploring new things. You are capable of anything you set your mind to. You just have to do the best you can do each and every day. Anything is possible, if you reach for the sky – you might just catch a star. Thank you so much to the honourable Jane McKenna, for insightful words to the young girls and their families watching today. And for join us in the celebration of Skills Ontario’s International Day of the Girl event!
To continue on with today’s theme, we are excited to have the opportunity to introduce a strong voice for women and girls equity in the skilled trades: Kyara Cabrera Fong, Apprentice Autobody Technician at the Toronto Transit Commission. Please welcome, Kyara! Hi, everyone. It's nice to meet all of you. My name is Kyara and I want to welcome everyone to my life and story in trades. I'm an auto body technician. I fix cars after they've been damaged in an accident or other incidents and I use a wide array of tools to cut off old parts, connect new parts to the car, fill holes, repair scratches, dents and dings, and make the car look as good as new. It all involves multiple trades, so Mechanics, Welding, Painting, Body Filler, and so much more. But why did I choose this trade and not something else?
Well, I got into trades through learning about it in my high school construction class. Even though I loved art I didn't want to necessarily go to art school and get into a field that wasn't assuring me a job afterwards or sitting all day, either, for my job. In my 10th grade of high school I was given a decision between woodworking and guitar, and after choosing woodworking, I realized I loved working with my hands and that trades is probably the best choice for me even though I had the capability to go to university. When deciding on autobody it was because I could expand my art skills through taking this trade while making money while studying, which would help me fund my own art and develop my skills in general. A lot of auto body deal with art concepts. Sculpting, knowledge of materials, painting and the level of perfectionism needed to perform the trade. Also, auto body skills help you in your everyday life, like, example, fixing your own car if you need repairs or even repairs around your home. When choosing this trade, it doesn't need to be only for money. I chose it because it would help me with my other goals in life not just monetary gains. When I introduced this idea of trades to my parents and guidance counsellor there was a lot of negative feedback or sexist remarks.
My parents didn't know if it would make me money and didn't trust it since they had a lack of knowledge and my guidance counsellor wanted me to go into interior design or use trades to get into the office since it's a "hard job." I had one teacher in woodworking, D'agostino, who introduced me to the women in non-traditional trades program with Centennial College where I study currently and a mechanics class. And since I excelled in the wood working, he trusted I'd find these programs useful and it did, it really benefitted me to be there because it lead me here. Let me explain. Amidst all the negativity and banter over my future, there were few voices who did know what I was trying to do or at least would help me out. If I never put myself out there and asked the questions or faced rejection, I would never be in the place I needed to be in, or get the help from the people who were willing to help. I would be where others thought best for their own circumstance. Advice is good but sometimes you need to gauge what is best for your path.
Researching, asking questions and being passionate will lead you to the right people to get your goals accomplished. Even if many people are against you, it doesn't mean there won't be a few who will see your point of view and help you expand. When I was in my mechanics class I took a chance and asked my mechanics teacher if I could do something related to Auto Body instead to start practicing my skills. To my surprise, he allowed me to work on a hood and perform tasks relating to my field now, while also mixing it with art. I created a hood which represents the girls Automotive class my high school had which now hangs there to this day.
To me, this is a symbol to never be afraid to ask for more. If I let my nerves get the best of me and never asked this question to my teacher, I would have never had the opportunity to create that piece. I did the same for the mentor of the women in non-traditional trades program for Centennial. Melanie was her name and she gave me a piece of advice that I would never forget, which was always keep a black book handy which means always network with the people around you. A little black book is a book where you keep business cards from people that you've met. Every event that we did with Centennial I tried to collect as many business cards as I could and offered myself to Centennial to speak once I started my program. Through doing that it's led me all the way to this event today, but again it would have never happened if I never put my intention out into the world to other people.
Do your research on what you want to do and be knowledgeable. Don't be afraid to ask questions to people, like your teachers, guidance, other adults, friends even. Even if they reject your ideas because there will be people who will be able to help you but you'll never know unless you keep asking. Always show passion for what you're doing, make sure what you choose is what you want to do and not a product of what the people around you want you to do. When you do things of your own volition and passion, you do them with confidence and enjoy them along your journey. To be a woman in trades today in 2021 is a lot more accepting than it was back in the day. I have not yet throughout my whole time becoming an auto body technician had less advantage than my male counterparts. We have to start looking at trades and start to realize that we are neither female or male in this job, we are human beings in a job. Yes, females and males have their differences but
when you go into something already putting yourself in a label or a box you're already leading the way to a form of segregation mentally. When I go into my workplace I never go in and think, well, I'm the only girl in this shop because that's not the right attitude. I go into my workplace and think wow what am I going to learn today, who am I going to need today and how can I be better in the workplace, because who I am as a person matters more than what gender I am on the work floor. I find from my experiences, society has not only made trades taboo for women but we've also made it taboo for men, creating ideas that trades are brutal hard jobs that don't make a lot of money or are for people who are uneducated or lack the skill to be in an educated scene like college or university and this has led to a deficit of workers in all trades. This misinformation isn't fair because trades could be a job that someone really could enjoy depending on their lifestyle or what they seek in a job. I urge you after hearing this today to look into trades not only because it could be an option for you but also to tell the information to other students or other people in your lives who may not know what benefits trades really have. I always run on the saying: be the mentor you need. Think about attributes that you would like displayed towards you and give them out to the world. I know for me I want to help people grow by showing them about my life in hopes it will help them make a decision that best helps them in their circumstance.
This is my story and my take on what's happening with trades today and all I can hope for is that you enjoyed and took information that will help you in the long run. Thank you everybody for your time. Thank you so much, Kyara for your inspirational story and encouragement for girls to imagine themselves in these jobs. We are so happy you could join us today! For the Skills Ontario’s International Day of the Conference, we are excited to be featuring, who else, but GIRLS today! First, I will introduce you to our moderator, Courtney Chard, welder and KickAss Careers Ambassador. Thanks Jenn! Hi everybody and welcome! My name is Courtney Chard. I am a second generation pipe welder with Local 46 Toronto. I have a eight year old daughter Hayden and we are both ambassadors for Kick Ass Careers. We encourage youth to explore the trades as a career opportunity through education and mentorship. As Jenn mentioned, we are excited to be featuring, none other than the girls! Let me introduce to you: Hayden, age 8, Naba, age 9, Bhavi, age 10, and Yusra age 10.
These amazing young ladies are here to tell us in their own voice about being a girl; what the future might look like for them, and how we can help girls across the province to find opportunities for themselves, working to ensure their futures are bright and unlimited! So girls, we want to hear from all of you. The purpose of today is to hear what you have to say and think. So, I want everyone to feel comfortable knowing there is no judgement, no wrong answers and if you have something to say please be respectful and wait your turn. I want you to know your thoughts are important, your opinion is valuable and I look forward to hearing from each of you! We are all so excited to be here. Hi Hayden, what grade are you in and what you want to do for a career? I'm in grade 3 and people ask me this a lot, what do you want to do when you grow up and there are so many jobs to just pick one and stay with that so, I really don’t know.
No, do you like to build things? Yes. And what's your favourite subject? I like art and I like gym. Well, those are good subjects. Naba, what grade are you in and what would you like to do when you get older? I am in grade 5 and I’d like to become an astronomer when I grow up. I'm really fond of astronomy and space sciences. Astronomers are people who study celestial objects like planets, galaxies, nebulae, and other things. I would also like to become a chemist when I grow up, because it is really interesting to see what happens when you mix a couple of things together and see what becomes of them. Well, chemists do that every day. That would be really fun to do. What’s your favourite planet? My favourite planet would be Saturn but after Earth, because if there’s no Earth, we would not even be here, and we wouldn’t have a place to live even if we were here.
And you wouldn’t want to be an astronaut? No, I wouldn’t because I would be a bit scared of all that training like when you have to go upside down, and I don’t like going upside down at all. OK, so no rides. No rides, no rollercoaster that go upside down. Bhavi, what grade are you in and what would you like to do when you get older? I am in grade 5, I am 10 years old and when I grow up, I want to become an aerospace engineer. An aerospace engineer is somebody who codes rockets, rovers and satellites, and I am trying to connect my two passions, coding and space and when you mix them together it becomes an aerospace engineer and I really really love coding. I play a lot of different video games and virtual games and I think it’s really fun but I always have tweaks or ideas I could add to the game so if I created my very own game, I can add anything that pops into my head, all the imagination I have and put it on there.
For someone who doesn’t know anything about coding, can you explain it really basic? So coding is basically… everybody plays games, everybody plays virtual games, and coding is basically creating that game. If you drag and drop a bunch of blocks, write some scripts and put it all together it can become a huge program, you can create Minecraft, you can create Roblox, any game that you play, if you just write some scripts or drag and drop blocks, it’s that simple. What’s your favourite video game to play? FIFA, it’s a football game that I play on Xbox, me and my dad play it all the time and I usually win.
OK, I like to hear that. Yusra, how old are you and what would you like to do when you grow up? Hello, I am very glad to be here, I am in fifth grade and when I grow up, I would like to be an astronomer and a doctor. An astronomer is a person who studies the field beyond the Earth, like galaxies, stars, planets, the moon and lots more. And a doctor is a person who studies the field of science of medicine, and both astronomers and doctors are really great leaders. What type of doctor would you like to be? I am not really sure; I think all doctors are pretty great. I think so too! Bhavi, are there such things as girl jobs and boy jobs? I am going to be super straightforward about this, no way! Nobody can classify what job you want to do when you grow up and most people that classify that boy jobs are going outside and working in an office, but no, you can be whatever you want to be. We’re 50% of the population, we can choose what we want to be when we grow up. Girls can become chefs, engineers, technicians, astronauts, astronomers, anything they’d like to do. So, no one can classify what you want to be when you grow up.
I agree, do you think there are such things as girl toys and boy toys? Not at all. Honestly, I play with everything. I play with xBox controllers, I play with Lego, I play with airplane models, I play with everything. Yeah, I was like that too when I was a kid. Hayden, what would you say to a girl who feels she shouldn’t do something because she is a girl? Well, that’s definitely not true, girls can do anything that boys can do. We are all equally the same, 100% and we can do anything when you put your mind to it. You just got to think clearly, stay in the line, and it can happen. It’s true Hayden, that’s right. And do you think there’s such thing as girl toys and boy toys? No way. No way, right. Good job! Yusra, what do you think a skilled trade is?
I think a skilled trade is an occupation that involves skilled labour, which is taking a special course on a special training. Like for example, there are bakers, mechanists, painters, roofers, and lots more. For sure. Naba? I think a skilled trade is an occupation or a job which requires a skill that you can learn at college or school. There are 4 different sectors to skilled trades which are construction, industrial, service and motive power. There are different jobs in this category, and they include, engineers, plumbers, electricians, painters, masons, heating and air conditioning technicians, etc. Do you have a favourite trade? Of all the trades that I know, I would do painter.
Painting? Yeah. Hayden, what do you think about a girl who works hard with her hands and builds things? Well, I think that’s really cool and that’s really hard work. Like really hard work, and when you come home, I think they deserve nice relaxing time. Yeah, no loud noises? No way. Peace and quiet, that's right. Bhavi, if you could build anything yourself, what would you want to build? Well, to say that, on my iPad, I have this NASA app and on this NASA app there’s always a daily image of the day taken by the Hubble space telescope. I think it’s a really cool space telescope,
and I'd like to build my own space telescope to explore deep interstellar space and I want to help build it and code it to do exactly the same thing that a Hubble space telescope does and help the space agencies classify pictures. And the second thing that I want to build is the Canada arm 3 in under making and by the time it’s time for me to choose my career, there’s probably the Canada arm 7 and I want to help build it and code it because I think it’s a really big contribution to the Canadian space agency. What does the Canada arm do? Well, it helps astronauts build the ISS and it’s connected to a part of the ISS, and actual Canadian astronauts help.
That’s excellent, so basically, it’s like a crane in space and astronauts are basically construction workers. Definitely. That’s amazing. If you are watching from home, don’t forget to take a picture and post to Twitter tagging Skills Ontario with the hashtag #SKillsIDG2021 for a chance to win prizes!
We are now going to invite Apprentice Autobody Technician, Kyara Cabrera Fong to join us for our tool show and share. Hey, guys. What's your names? My name is Yusra. Yusra, alright – yours? My name is Bhavi. Bhavi. My name is Naba.
Naba. My name is Hayden. Hayden. Nice to meet you guys. Everyone brought a favourite tool today, so let’s grab your tools and tell us what they are used for. Hayden, can you show us what you brought and what you use it for?
I brought my welding helmet, and it protects your face and eyes, so your eyes don’t get burned and it protects your face, so the sparks don’t hit you and my mom and I have these welding bands and just we wanted the spikes so we both have them. I have purple and she has blue. And is that a special lens that helps the welder just see what they are doing? Yes, and they can also see the soap stone. OK, so they can follow what they are doing and not go off track? Excellent, thank you Hayden, that’s really cool. And it also has my dog on it. Yes, I see that, Jasper. Naba, can you tell me what you brought it today? I brought my iPad. This is my favourite tool because you can use it for like almost everything. You can use it to play games, research, chat with people who are far away, or just chat with
people if you can’t see them. And then, you can also use it to do your schoolwork, read books, you can write stories, make and edit videos, take photos, check the weather and many more things with it. Can you do the same things with that, that you can with a home computer? Yes, you can. But the thing is, you can’t take home computers with you anywhere easily so that’s why I use my iPad because you can take it and use it whenever you are somewhere else, like in a car or in a plane. That’s true. Bhavi, what did you bring for us today? I brought my laptop and I brought it for 2 reasons. The first reason is, as mentioned before I really love coding and I’ve built a lot of web pages, websites and apps with this laptop and I think it’s really, really fun to code, you can just use coding to help other people in need and it’s really just fun to code. Some of my favourite coding languages are Java script, Python, HTML and CSS. So, the best part is you can use coding to help people. The second reason is my cousin and family,
they live all the way in India, and the cool part is that you can just look into a box, and you can talk to someone 13,000 km away. And there’s no delay? It’s just like us talking? Yes, exactly. And does your family in India like coding too? I am trying to teach my cousin coding and I think he is enjoying it. That’s very neat. Yusra, what did you bring us? I brought my electric screwdriver which is my favourite power tool, and it is very useful for putting up picture frames, assembling beds, and screwing up chair legs. Amongst all the tools that my dad uses, I think this would be the one that he uses the most and I like to hop along as well and really help him when he is doing stuff.
Do you have your own toolbox at home? No, but I do just like to screw on things and build. So, you help your dad a lot. Yes.
That’s good. How do you feel about power tools or using tools in general? Are you scared or excited? Naba? I feel mingled, excitement and nervousness when I try out a new power tool. Especially power tools because they normally use electricity and things like that. So, I feel nervous because I keep wondering if I make a mistake and if it’s something like a knife or something which is sharp, I would feel a bit scared because I have no intention of cutting my finger off, but if it’s a device like a micro bit, then I feel more excited than nervous or mostly scared too. So, for me, I mostly feel excited or nervous, and in some cases, depending on the tool scared. Right. What about you, Yusra?
I feel excited when I use power tools and I think using power tools would be easier for skilled trades workers instead of using manual tools and they can do their work with more accuracy. Right, and it’s good to learn how to use something new with somebody who’s already been trained, and they can teach you the proper ways and you can wear your proper safety equipment, your PPE right? Yes. Kyara, please tell us about your favourite tool. So, my favourite tool is actually in a set. So, I brought it in a bag today to show you guys. My favourite tool is a body hammer, the piece of metal to show you how it works, and a dolly. So, with a
hammer and dolly, you use this to actually shape metal into the contours that you want for the actual body panel, or whatever vehicle you are working on. So, this is actually a little box I made at school one day, and you take the dolly underneath, let’s say I want to make this flat, you put it underneath with pressure, holding it up and then you hammer the top and you keep doing it evenly all over until it’s actually perfectly flat. And then this part, the pick on the back is used to create more contours, like this, you go from behind or you go on top, to change the properties of the metal. So, this is my favourite set of tools. Now that’s manual, have they made a tool where its automated almost? There are a couple of tools to automatically work metal, so there’s pulling tools where you actually weld on studs, and then put on the tool and pull back this heavy piece and it actually pulls it for you, instead of you using your arms. So that’s one example of something that been created to actually work metal without it being so manual.
And does that take a lot of practice? Oh yes, when it comes to working with metal, it’s honestly, it’s an art, it’s a craft. Right. So, people who are like metal workers, and they are very very skilled, there really sought after to be teachers. Because of the fact that not everyone knows how to properly use the topic of
metallurgy, and actually work metal in a way that they can get the metal to where they want it to be. Cause if you don’t have knowledge usually, you just end up making a mess of metal. Right, so that’s a main thing with a skilled trade, is once you get really good and competent at what you do, you are generally always employed because to get to that level and have that skill, there are not very many people. No, it’s very very rare, for someone to know. Even in autobody shop, it’s very rare to have someone who knows metal work in and out. Cause a lot of people, they go into different sectors of autobody instead. So, when you specialize, you can specialize into… Into different sectors, so either you specialize in do everything, or you can specialize into one section of autobody which is really cool because if you have a favourite section, you kind of lean into you can become a master of that.
Excellent, I like hearing that. Thanks everyone for sharing your tools. Girls, each of you were asked to bring a question today to ask Kyara. Hayden, we will start with your question. Do you have a favourite type of car to work on? I think my favourite thing to work on so far, is actually industrial vehicles. So not necessarily cars, so I like to work on the buses, and other vehicles like
cranes, or bulldozers. I find those kinds of vehicles are a lot more fun to work on because they are heavy-duty and it’s such a big project to do. Naba? What percentage of workers are girls in the automotive industry? So, from my experience, in the shop I am currently in, I am the only women in the autobody section. But our whole shop has more sections in it. So, in the motive repair, there’s like 4 or 5, so I would probably say out of the whole shop, there’s probably 5 out of 200 people. And then, in my class, usually every year there’s one or two women, for every 30 guys. So currently, very low, but the past 2 years I have been seeing more and more girls kind of go in and it’s been nice to see that. OK, that’s very little.
Bhavi? So, when you look back, what is a project that makes you proud? Honestly, I think a project that makes me the most proud is when I was working at Campus Collision and I worked on LAV machines with a mentor I had at the time named Andreas. So LAV machines are Light Armoured Vehicles. So, it’s basically a step below a tank and their very heavy so to move them around, because they don’t have the engine in it when we get them cause we have to prep them from start to finish, we need 10 people to move the vehicle around. And prepping now is actually a great experience because it really taught me how to do the whole process of prepping a vehicle from start to finish. That’s amazing.
Yusra? Due to the advancement of science and technology, do you think there would be any more ease to do any heavy work more easily that may lead more women to choose skilled trades as a career? Oh definitely. Even now, we’ve created so much more technology advancements in order to help us lift items, in order to do our jobs without having to put so much force and destroying your body right. So even now, it’s like there’s no excuse to tell someone, ‘hey you are not strong enough’. No, there’s room for that because we have the technology even now to help people go into trades even if there are not strong and they don’t have gains. Hayden? If you could not be a mechanic, what would your second choice be? If I wasn’t an autobody technician or mechanic, I would probably lean into going into framing with father. So, my dad, he is a framer, and he does carpentry. I would probably lean more into what he was doing and help him out, maybe even do architecture. Naba? My second question is – you work in a lot of areas in mechanical, electrical, shaping, repairing, painting, etc. Which one do you like working in most? There’s 2 that are my top favourite. Metalwork is like my number one because of the fact that it is a really sought-after skill, and the fact that it is basically like an art form, but more heavy duty so that to me is very intriguing. And then painting is another one that is like my all time favourite. Because I actually like to do art, so painting actually help me in my artistic skill afterwards.
Bhavi? If you could time travel and you could talk to a younger version of yourself, what would you say? That’s a tough one. I would probably tell my younger self to lean in towards their drive and to listen to what their ambitions are saying. Because there are a lot of people who tried to tell me that I couldn’t do things and sometimes you have to listen to the little conscience in your head. Thank you. No problem, guys.
I would like to ask, as a parent of a girl, if I had no skilled trades or technology role model in my household, what would you recommend to help introduce, or help demonstrate that skilled trades or technology careers could be a viable pathway for them. Honestly, the best thing to do if there’s not necessarily a role model in house is to try and reach out to the teachers in the high school who do trades and teach the trades classes because those teachers more likely than not, they are really eager to teach people about it and they are excited to tell people about it and they will take someone under their wing, especially if they are really interested in it. I know for me, that’s how it worked. Even though my father does do trades, he wasn’t wanting or willing to talk to me about it because he thought no it’s not for you, do something safer, maybe more academic. So, for me really, I had to lean a lot on the school and the programs there. So, I took woodshop, and that’s when a teacher told me and I said you know what, I don’t have anyone else to ask so I will ask him. So, I asked him, and fair enough, he gave me all the information I needed to know and from there, I found out about more programs. So, using the school and what program they provide is the best bet. Yes, and the schools are really getting on board with educating the students about trades as a career so that’s nice. Exactly.
Thank you everyone for joining us today, this was a lot of fun. Thank you Courtney for moderating our entertaining discussion. We also want to thank Kyara for taking the time to offer her experiences and expertise, and our wonderful co-hosts Hayden, Naba, Bhavi, and Yusra. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to take a picture watching the conference! And post to Twitter tagging Skills Ontario and hashtag #SkillsIDG2021 for a chance to win prizes! We would once again like to thank our Young Women’s Initiatives Program Sponsors: the Government of Ontario, Magna and our conference supporting sponsor Sound Events.
Thank you to everyone who joined the Skills Ontario International Day of the Girl conference, for girls by girls! It has been lots of fun, and we want to continue encouraging all girls to see themselves capable in a skilled trades and technology future! At the end of this conference there will be a link to a short survey link for another chance to win prizes. Thank you so much again for joining us here today!
2021-10-11