TechStretch – An Electrifying Experience

Trades and technology will once again be front and centre this year at Delview Secondary. Our very own Sebastian Klinkenburg was part of an initial group of Delta students who attended the first ever Technology Stretch (TechStretch) session earlier in the fall term. In this program students participate in five practical, interactive sessions at Delta Manor under the guidance of Al Miles, BCIT Electrical instructor.

TechStretch gives students an introduction to the electrical trade as a viable career option and helps them see how elective choices during senior secondary school can facilitate the transition to post-secondary education. The TechStretch program is offered through an apprenticeship grant received from the Industry Training Authority and is open to grade 9 and 10 students upon recommendation of their shop teachers.

As part of our ongoing commitment to trades exploration, the Career Department will be organizing tours and information sessions during the year to inform students interested in the trades as a possible career. We are planning site visits to construction projects and industry shops during the year as well as a trip to the annual Skills Competition in Abbotsford in the Spring.

Delview has a history of strong participation in trades-related programs. We have a number of students attending ACE-IT programs outside of Delview in Carpentry, Construction Electrical, Warehousing, Auto Refinishing and Baking and Pastry. We also have students taking work-based training as Secondary School Apprentices. If your son or daughter is has an interest in trades, have them speak to Mr. Prideaux or Ms. Derksen in the Career Centre.

Graduation Day at the Bay [C. Prideaux]

Graduation day came early for one group of Delview students who were enrolled in the Bay Junior Management program earlier this year. Almost every Thursday afternoon after school since early October these intrepid students have been heading off to the Bay at Guildford Mall to learn management techniques at the Bay.

The Bay Management program helped them realize the complexities of running a large modern department store in today’s competitive market environment. They were given practical lessons in sales and marketing such as building rela tionships with customers through listening and communication. As managers they came to understand how to motivate and inspire employees, select as well as develop leadership qualities. On a personal level they discovered how personal accountability can overcome obstacles, achieve goals and help create new opportunities.

Like a scene out of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice”, they were given responsibility for a particular department in the store and presented with a final in-store challenge of a personnel, financial, merchandising nature. Their remarkable strategies and solutions were presented in a Powerpoint presentation to a group of Bay managers and School administrators in the “boardroom” on graduation day in mid-April. I am pleased to report that they all came through with flying colours. We congratulate them all and wish them many more successes in the future. We are very proud of them.