James Strath Intermediate Students Got Hands on Experience with Take TECH! Week
/Intermediate students at James Strath Public School participated in Take TECH! Week, a program that encourages youth to explore careers in tech, on Thursday.
Students work together to build an outdoor chalk board. Photo by Angela O’Grady.
19 schools in the Kawartha Pine Ridge School District applied to participate in Take TECH! Week, presented by the Pathways Team, and three were chosen.
Prior to ‘Build Day’ on Thursday, students at James Strath identified a need in their classroom or school, brainstormed ideas to help meet that need, then built a prototype.
On Thursday, with the help of construction teachers from high schools in the board, the parking lot at James Strath was transformed into a construction zone.
Students brought their prototypes to life on a full-size scale, using drills, power sanders, table saws and some elbow grease.
Their creations included a compost cart to wheel between classrooms, outdoor first aid kit boxes, water bottle holders and outdoor chalk boards.
“We’re learning how to be resourceful,” said grade eight student Akshila Amarasinghe. “Every moment is a moment where we’re learning, whether it’s math, tools or just how to be a good team.”
Students learned how to scale up their prototypes into life sized creations, used fractions when measuring and cutting wood as well as angles when creating joints.
“Usually at school it would be getting the textbooks and then listening to what the teachers says. Teachers often say that math is really important but we never see that, we never see math in real life so correlating that into building has really helped us see why math is really important and I think it’s also really helped us understanding it better than just using a text book.”
A student from each class was chosen to be the media person and take pictures at Build Day, which will later be uploaded to a website. Students will vote on the winning creation.
“This is a fantastic opportunity,” said Eric Bloomke, a construction teacher with KPR. “We need to expose more of our students to the skilled trades, there’s a skilled trade shortage in North America and the sooner we can introduce the thought of skilled trades as a viable career the better.”
Photo by Angela O’Grady.
