JOBS, JOBS, JOBS? Youth employment grim worse this summer, compared to last summer. Cal preps students for jobs __ IN THE TOUGH job market, students need any advaniage they can gel. Caledonia Secondary — is trying to help students by giving teens practical lips and experience while they’re in school. ~ Come this fall there will be four programs at Caledonia to help sludents, Three of those programs are already in place. Career Preparation Instead of the traditional diverse mix of courses, this program is for students wha already have an idea of what career they'd like. Students take a cluster of five courses in one field over their senior years. The most popular areas for students to major in are trades, forestry and business careers, said Norma Van Raalte, who helps run the work experience component of the prograin. In‘ addition to the five courses students also take a work experience course in “which they bave to work without pay for 120 hours in their ficld. “That way they can pre- -test-their career,” said Van Raalte. Students can also use the Career Prep program to get a jump start.on college or university. “They can get preferred access at some institutions,” said’ vice-principal — Art Erastius. And their work experience or high school colifse might count as an ad- vance: credit toward a col- lege course. That’s worked in the past for welding slu- dents transferring to North- west Community College. About 40 students = in grades 1 and 12 at Caledonia are taking the Career Prep program. This year it was hard to place students, said. Gerry Sharples, who works with Van ‘Raalte-in work expert- . ence programs. - Usually students go aut to work: in the spring, but the economy was int rough. shape due to the troubles at Repap and West Fraser. ; Placing students also in- volves matching a student’s personality to the job place. “You want to make sure you’re sending a kid down there who will fit in socially -as well as skill-wise,’’ said "Van Raalle. Once successful matches have been made, those stu- dents have a big advantage. “When they come back from _ their they’re enthusiastic,’ said Van Raaite. “They're beginning to’ make some real plans,” added Sharples. ‘‘They want - to work.’* They're also a Jot more upbeat than the majority of their peers about job pros- pects, Eight students have sum-_, mer jobs lined up with employers wha liked what. they saw during the work experience placement, That’s double the number who nomnally do, said Shar- ples. Apprenticeship programs Starting next fall Caledonia students —_will have the option of becoming an apprentice while finish- ing high school. Students will be able to count 480 hours of work as the equivalent of 16 credits, ot a semester. Those credits will count towards. their high school graduation. While officially in school, the student will also be part of the. provincial ap- prenticeship program. ‘We might be able to keep kids in school who would otherwise drop out,”’ said Sharples. Students and their parents are responsible for finding an employer. Then the min- istry of labour works with the school and parents to de- sign a high school gradu- alion program. “We make the program Eit their needs,’” said Sharples, He said it ideally sults parents who want taeir chil- dren to go into their line of work, such’ as © traditional trades. or new technical. fields. placements - STUDENT EMPLOYMENT officers Joelle Walker and Natalie Dickson are resort- ing to any tactics to get their message out. They've been putting flyers on cars, asking businesses to hire students. Youth unemployment seems to be much The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 11, 1997 - AS Stories by CRIS LEYKAUF TERRACE STUDENTS are scrambling to find jobs for the summer — jobs that just aren’t around. By the end of May the Hire a Student office had only 12 jobs come in for students. That doesn’t compare well to last year’s number of 50 jobs. ‘We're probably among the worst in the province,”’ said Natalie Dickson, student placement officer. . “Per capita Prince Gearge is way abead,’’ added her co-, worker Joelle Walker. And: yet staff at the Hire a Student office in Prince George is complaining about a lack of jobs. The jobs aren’t there but the students are — 125 are signed up at the Terrace office and most of those are post- secondary students, But there’s only 14 jobs listed for those 125 students. “Some orders you get in are unrealistic,’’ said Dickson. “They want well-qualified students but they won’t pay them the rate they deserve.”’ So we do what we can,”’ said Walker. “Lots of jobs we get in don’t want high school students. They want some- one with a degree and experience.’’ For example, one parent listed a babysitting job for mini-, mum wage, Yet she wanted a student with Early Child- hood Educalion training, not just a high school student. Walker and Dickson think businesses should be more willing to consider developing the skills of students. Many businesses simply give students a basic job, with no opportunity to learn advanced skills. And that hurts stu- dents when they look for a job the next summer. Another problem Walker and Dickson have seen is that many businesses can’t afford to hire students this year. “Businesses want extra funding and grants to hire stu- dents,”’ said Dickson. But the deadline to apply for federal grants to hire students was March 31, And the provincial coffers for student jobs ran dry about four weeks ago. “ Keep the trust ; An open letter Trustees, School District 482 More than 20 years ago, the citizens of northwestern B.C. took a leap in faith and voted to entrust you with our performing arts theatre. It was a daring move at + that time, but typical of our citizens who live daily + receiving the poorest of returns for the wealth that is harvested from our area. The referendum to authorize the building of the theatre had to be district wide and had to be approved by the people of Stewart, Hazelton, Kitwanga and the rural areas as well as Terrace, despite the fact that the building would have to be constructed in the largest centre, Terrace. There was faith that the impact on quality of life and opportunity would ripple throughout the area. Northerners know too well that we are the forgotten ; of our province except for the harvesting of our wealth. And that if we want extra quality in our lives we have to provide it ourselves. We are pioneers in everything. (Since then our sister communilics with their greater industrial bases have built their own theatres to the benefit of all). The success of our theatre has absolutely depended upon countless volunteers throughout, even to the extra mile by staff. Unfortunately this is the aspect that is un- sung, unpublicized and tends to be forgotten or over- looked. But it is only latent and it is our strength. } 1 rt 4 , t t 4 ry ' . .The most visible demonstration of the-volunteering. of - i _ citizens. ini the, Theatre, is; our, renowned Nj We Mugie -;) Festival convened each spring drawing performers and _ supporters from Alaska to Fort St. John. Some 900 ' volunteers are actively engaged during that period. . But let us also remember the untold labour through- out the year. The endless hours of committee work, the planning for syllabus, transportation, accommodation, adjudicators, prizes, donations, programs, financing, the business community. And-yet always the festival . recognizes gratitude for the facility by giving a tangible ; gift to the building. This is just one of most visible activities. There is also the showcasing of local dance and theatre groups, band and orchestras besides the opportunity to present as much variety as possible in every type of entertain- ment. And the groups are made available on a reciprocal ar- rangement to schools who could not otherwise afford them on their own. r One of the most hotly contested and difficult decl-. , sions in the planning stage of the theatre was citizen distrust of putting such a public facility under the direc- tion of the school board. 5 That was the only way it could be maintained, and since it was mutually beneficial it was entrusted to you. But do not forget this facility belongs to the cilizens 4 of District 88 (82) and that you, as our trustees, are ob- | ligated to continue to fulfill that trust. The citizens must be involved in decisions to keep our theatre oper- ating unsuccessfully and economically. owe sy ma 1D Nancy Orr Terrace B.C. Won't be moving north Dear Sir: ; Your May 28 front page article with the headline, ! “Hey you guys, move up north,’’ was more than a . litte bit misleading. The implication in the story was that if only the Skcena head office could move to Ter- race, $12 million dollars a year would be saved which ; would be almost 10 per cent of the company’s losses |, last year. If the solution was that simple, we'd do it, But it isn’t. If the company moved to Terrace, the head office costs, Which are about half of the amount claimed by ‘Mr. Hull, would essentially stay the same with the ex- ception of the rent, which would be cheaper. This, in- cidentally, is leas than ten percent of head office costs. On the other hand, the cost of airfare would go up substantially. That’s because ‘a large number of profes- sional, financlal and marketing people that the head- quarters has to deal with are in Vancouver, And that’s why practically all forest companies in British Colum- bia have their headquarters in that city. This is not a mark of disrespect for Terrace. It’s a* preat location for our sawmill and as the headquarters for our Solid Wood Group. , But to suggest that the company’s financial problems could be solved by a simple move of Skeena’s head- quarters to Terrace is just plain wrong. : oe Harry Papushka Vice Chairman _ Skeena Cellulose Inc. Vancouver B.C. i l a] MORE LETTERS PAGE AG |