About 40 professionals talk about what they do and how they do it, at KDSS Career Day

About 40 professionals from the Kincardine area gathered at Kincardine District Senior School, Wednesday afternoon, to talk about what they do and how they do it, during Career Day.

Organized by Watson Morris and his team, the event included a wide variety of careers, such as a welder, paramedic, journalist, dairy farmer, teacher, baker, chiropractor, lawyer and project manager.

Part of the message, said Morris, was to provide diverse faces of those who are the career professionals in our community.

“But explicitly, the message was about listening to your inner calling,” he said. “It was about reminding students of the need for these careers.

“For instance, how the Kincardine Record provides journalism in an ever-increasing ‘on-line world’ that is rapidly changing and keeps our community connected through hearing local stories; how Mark and Stan ter Woerds continue dairy farming with increasing technology that improves cow comfort and production.

"It was so good to have both former students and presenters from far and wide, provide an explicit message that it is important for young people to reflect on what they find as meaningful as a career opportunity. These presenters are professionals in their respected professions and they truly gave a message that forces us to ask, ‘What is our inner calling?’

“Lastly, all of the speakers role-modelled how there are careers today that have been around for centuries but require new skills and knowledge sets, while at the same time, reminding our students to prepare for careers that haven’t been discovered yet.”

Morris said the success of Career Day was not just due to the presenters, but also the planning done by Kate Paul, Naomi Okanlowan and Adam Kahgee of Bruce Power, working alongside the KDSS team of principal Don Burns, Watson Morris, Hannah DeBruyn, Jamie Wellwood, Brent Urie, Sydney Hasson, Dan Ogilive, Amy Snobelen, Kristy Welsh, Sharon Nicholas, and April Petrie.