For Educators - To the Counsellor

Introduction

At the grades 8 and 9 level, students are still some distance away from making definitive career decisions, but they do have course and program selections to make in the near future that will have significant career implications. For this reason, career awareness and exploration programs are very important.

CARS resources can be used effectively in the following ways:

Workplace programs

  • Excellent background for job-shadowing programs like Take Your Kids to Work as well as;
  • Introduction to work experience, cooperative education and school-work transition programs that students could enter at a senior high school level.

Career days and class presentations

  • Industry people are encouraged in the Industry Presentation Guide to volunteer as speakers for school career days and in subject classes.

Field trips

  • Automotive repair and service firms are encouraged in the Industry Presentation Guide to host school field trips. The CARS career awareness resources will help teachers to prepare their students for what they will see on the visit.

Parent information

  • Parents also benefit from greater career awareness. The For Parents section has been designed to give parents a brief but accurate picture of the automotive repair and service field. Information sheets could be made available to parents at school Open House sessions and parent-teacher interviews.
  • The For Parents section could also be used with students to give them a quick overview of the industry and to encourage them to make use of the other resources.

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Industry participation

The CARS Career Awareness resources are very useful in helping students understand both the industry and the relevance of some of their schoolwork. The portrayal of real people will help bring the work world into the classroom. The most effective way of doing this, however, is to have people who work in the industry visit the classroom and have students visit the workplace. Within the limitations of time and money, this is possible.

The key is to develop a working relationship between your school and at least one automobile dealership or repair shop. CARS is working to lay the groundwork for this with the industry, in part through the For Industry section, which strongly encourages employers and employees to work with local schools. The response from many businesses has been very positive. Making the connection between your school and the industry could be as simple as speaking to the manager of the business where you get your own car serviced or to a parent of one of your students who may work in the field. Explore the possibilities.

The bottom line is that many of your students will benefit from exploring the automotive repair and service industry, since it offers challenging and satisfying work opportunities and it is looking to hire young people. All of your students will benefit from a greater awareness of this field, as they will for any field of work. They will, however, be involved with this industry, like it or not. After all, everyone who drives needs service and repairs.

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