GNS: Niton Students Learn New Trade Skills

Niton Central School participated in the virtual  Skills Exploration Day. Junior High Schools from all across the province participated in the event put on by Skills Alberta. The purpose of Skills Exploration Days is to: 

• Inspire Junior High students to identify inherent skills and interests.

• Connect students’ skills and interests to trade and technology careers through interactive, hands-on experiences that promote creativity, empathy, and exploration.

• Promote trade and technology careers as a valuable and rewarding career choice.

This was the third year for Niton's Grade 7 to 9 students to participate, and for the first time, Grade 6 students were also able to participate. This year's challenge was based on creating a prototype that would deal with an aspect of sustainable food development. Students planned and designed their prototypes using a human-centered design process. On Skills Day, students built either work or model prototypes of their designs. They also had opportunities to try out other trades such as Carpentry, HVAC, Plumbing, Fashion Design, and Electrical. Students created a tabletop hydroponics system and plant propagation stands that will be used later in the year to learn about horticulture in their Career and Technology Fundamentals class. Students designed and build nine prototypes/models:

- an aeroplane that waters crops and plants seeds - an automatic cattle feeding system

- a system for preserving food with food-safe wax - an in-wall system for easy sorting of waste

- an automatic plant watering system that reused its water

- an automatic potato mashing and processing system

- an automatic composting system that grinds and spreads the compost

- a system for making compost stirring and dumping easier

- a cutting board that drained liquids and provided storage for food prep needs

In addition the event, Niton added in an in-house competition for their students. Students competed and earned points for completing the trade-based skill challenges and votes from their peers. This year, two groups tied for the win; the Automatic plant watering system and the automatic cattle feeder. Please visit the website at www.gypsd.ca to see all the photos from this great learning day!

GNS: Niton Students Learn New Trade Skills