Related Photos

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  DDSB students Nila and Larissa join DDSB Cooperative Education and OYAP Facilitator Denise Stirton in the Women in Nuclear session at the Young Women in Science, Technology, and Trades Conference.
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  DDSB student Larissa gets an inside view of the OPG Darlington plant using a virtual reality headset at Durham College in Whitby.
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  L-R: Laci and Lilly from Glengrove PS use coding to program a robot to navigate through a maze at the Young Women in Science, Technology, and Trades Conference.

DDSB students participate in the 2^nd Annual Young Women in Science, Technology, and Trades Conference

“We are thrilled, as a part of the Durham District School Board (DDSB), to partner with Durham College in a collaboration that’s working to expand the empowerment of young women,” says Denise Stirton, Program Facilitator for Cooperative Education and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) at the DDSB.

For the second year in a row, Durham College hosted a conference at their Oshawa and Whitby campuses, aimed at young girls in Grades 7 and 8 who are considering a future career in science, technology, or the skilled trades. Students from across Durham Region and Northumberland County were invited to join in this exciting two-day event.

On the first day (October 22^nd) students joined keynote speaker Ann Makosinski at the Oshawa campus, where she spoke about her passion for inventing new technologies. At the age of 16 Makosinski designed and created a “hollow flashlight” which runs off the heat from a person’s hand. 

What Do You Want to Do?

On the second day, students heard from keynote speaker Kate Campbell. Campbell is a well-known contractor, partly due to her appearances on HGTV shows such as Holmes on Homes and Home to Win. She also runs her own renovation company called KateBuilds Inc., and is a huge advocate for women in the trades.

“You have to start somewhere,” says Campbell. “Fourteen years ago, tape measures were intimidating to me, and now I have my fingerprints all over these massive renovation projects.”

She asked students to think about two things. First, what would you want to do if money was no object? And second, what are you truly interested in?

Campbell goes on to say, “Life isn’t always easy, but if you find something that you love, push through the hard stuff. I promise it’ll be worth it in the end.”

After the keynote presentation, students rotated through a variety of sessions throughout the rest of the day.

Sessions included plugging and patching a tire, welding and measuring, coding a robot, interactive sessions with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), and much more.

Stirton shares that she hopes students gain a few different things from the conference, “I hope they take away key skills, understanding that women are needed in skilled trades, and I hope they will be inspired to seek out opportunities in high school to expand that knowledge.”