Grade 9 students enjoy their day working at York

More than 78 Grade 9 students visited York yesterday for Take Your Kid to Work Day at the Keele campus. The students, who came from schools in the Toronto District School Board and neighbouring school boards, joined their York employee parents for a day of work that was actually fun, sponsored by York’s Office of the Vice-President Finance & Administration.

Above: Clockwise from left, Grade 9 students Emily Tilleng, Casey Spencer and Kirsten Kelava with Carol Spencer, senior manager, recruitment and tenant relations in York’s Housing Services, Campus Services & Business Operations, and Steve Dranitsaris, senior executive officer in the Office of the Vice-President Finance & Administration. Photo by Brendan Monk.

The students, with their parents or relatives, filed into a room where they were each given a tote bag filled with goodies and a t-shirt. Next came a tour of the Keele campus, led by York students who provided facts on the interesting spots on campus.

Right: From left, Grad 9 student Adrian Lambert and his aunt Glenda Charlton-Lewis, administrative assistant in York’s Learning & Development Office. Photo by Brendan Monk.

Many of the kids marvelled at how big the campus is and said they could not believe that one of the lecture halls could hold 500 students. Jay Solomon, manager in York’s Office of Temporary Use of University Space, said York staff had been planning this day for two months. Lunch at Michelangelo’s in the Atkinson Building produced many happy faces as students enjoyed pizza, salad and drinks and a welcome from Norm Ahmet, assistant vice-president, Human Resources & Employee Relations.

Left: Kim Shadlock (left), manager, nursing resource centre in York’s School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, and her daughter Kelsea. Photo by Brendan Monk.

York alumnus David Huckvale (BA ’91), director of recruitment, spoke to the students about life at York and the many varied programs that are offered. He talked about careers students could pursue after studying in diverse programs in areas such as business, law, fine arts, the humanities and social sciences, science & engineering and health. The students could sense that Huckvale knew what he was speaking about and that he really loved the place where he worked.

Reported for YFile by Brendan Monk, a Grade 9 student at Toronto’s Malvern Collegiate Institute and son of David Fuller, York communications officer