Just over 100 Grade 9 students from Toronto, Hamilton and beyond, visited York University’s Keele and Glendon campuses on Nov. 6. They were taking part in the annual Take Our Kids to Work Day event, a Canada-wide experiential learning opportunity organized by The Learning Partnership.
The students accompanied by their parents and guardians, visited the University’s campuses. Organized activities included dodge ball games and a tour of the some of the University’s coolest spots, including the new one-metre telescope in the Allan Carswell Observatory, performance studios and theatres in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, and the Life Sciences Building on the Keele Campus. The Grade 9 students were treated to a pizza lunch before spending the afternoon job shadowing their parents and guardians.
Mary Catherine Masciangelo, assistant vice-president and chief human resources officer, offered an official greeting on behalf of York University to the Grade 9 students. In her remarks, Masciangelo encouraged the Grade 9 students to take time during their day at York to learn about the University. She spoke about the importance of volunteering and giving back. Masciangelo along Grade 9 students accompanied by their parents and guardians from the Finance & Administration Division and the Division of Equity, People and Culture, spent the morning harvesting vegetables at a local community garden as part of the United Way’s Day of Caring volunteer event.
One Grade 9er sporting a big smile was Grant Wyles, son of Tricia Wyles, manager of marketing, communications and corporate partnerships for Athletics & Recreation. Grant visited York University from Bill Caruthers Secondary School in Unionville. “The best part of the day was seeing the engineering school and seeing how it works and all the freedom the students enjoy, that was pretty cool,” he said.
Grant is hoping to follow a similar path to his mom’s career and hopes to study in a field connected to sports, either sports marketing or something similar.
Sterling Bateman came to York University with his grandmother Carol McAulay, vice-president finance & administration. An aspiring professional pilot, Bateman traveled to York University from Ancaster High School situated near Hamilton, Ontario.
Sterling’s day started with a visit to Black Creek Community Farms located adjacent to the University’s Keele Campus. Sterling and McAulay took part in volunteer activities for the United Way Day of Caring and joined the group harvesting vegetables. “I am enjoying it a lot,” he said with a big smile. “We harvested kale, spinach and Jerusalem artichokes.”
In the afternoon, Sterling sat in on a senior team meeting in Finance & Administration and then attended a budget consultation meeting with his grandmother.
Kashif Aziz Khan, a faculty member and research associate in the Department of Biology brought his daughter Aena, a Grade 9 student at École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé. Aena said she was very impressed by the theatre and the facilities in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.
Aena spent her afternoon with her father in the Department of Biology learning about his work as a research associate.
The Learning Partnership, a non-profit organization, launched Take Our Kids to Work Day in 1994 to create an experiential learning opportunity for students in Grade 9. Each year, Grade 9 students visit York University’s campuses where they enjoy a special day filled with tours, fun and learning.