gs economic climate dictates that job 4 use every available means to let ital employers know they are in the job arket. The same goes for students looking for summer work. Every year the North Shore News gives students the opportunity to fet employers iow what they have to offer through our stent employment ads. It’s free, so cal or to Classifieds and get to work! FREE TUDENT EMPLOYA ENT ‘ ADS cane . 3 lines maximum, once a week, up to age 18, offer ends July 715. tate rs ~~ - fo train. Die oe ; 986-6 6222. _— store of phon 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield iroup aims for better education — IT IS the responsibility of the business community to ensure that iocal schools produce the kind of people that they want to hire. That belief, held by the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, has lead to the creation of a partnership be- .. tween business and education professionals. The chamber’s education committee — made up of educators, businesspeople, and representatives from other fac- tions of the community — is | working toward that goal through efforts like next week's North Vancouver career fair and this education supplement. Its purpose is to encourage communication between educators and the business community and to sensitize educators to business interests, as well as helping business to’ understand the demands that are put on the education system. “We have to awaken peo- ple so they can be empowered to act,” said committee chairperson Adrian Parker. The result, explained chamber manager Judi Ainsworth, is ‘‘business and education working together to help both.” Over the past few years, the committee has become active in trying to create a co- operative spirit between members of the community, including an expansion of its membership to 25. The one faction that should be better represented are companies that employ large numbers of people, particularly the North Shore's larger employers of youth, said Parker. Within the coming years, they hope to become even more active in working to im- prove our local education. “We complain about what comes out of the schools,”’ said Ainsworth. Instead of com- plaining about the qualities that graduating students lack, she believes businesspeople should be helping educators to achieve the results that the business community wants. By Pamela Lang The career fair will help stu- dents understand their options for careers and education, but while that will reach hundreds _ _ of students, the North Shore News education supplement will promote education, throughout the entire North. ° Shore, she said. These committee initiatives are tangible results of what they have done, but the less ° tangible results are also i impor- tant. Much of what the education committee has achieved in the © past is relationship building, said Parker, who is the director of the Sylvan Learning Centre in North Vancouver. She said the committee has also lobbied for the creation of a school district position to co- ordinate all career develop- ment education programs within North Vancouver School District No. 44 — that | position was created last year, and is held by Heather Ratcliffe-Hood. And they would like to find other ways to help the schools. Originally, student counsellors were put into schools to help students plan for their futures, said Parker. But, she added, with all of the other problems today’s teens have to contend with, counsellors have become crisis managers with little time for career planning. “We'd like to take that load off of the counsellors’ shoulders.” While student problems of “the ‘40s were gum-chewing and talking out of turn, ‘90s teens are dealing with much bigger problems relating to’: _ things like drugs and abuse, said Ainsworth. Preparing these teenagers for ‘the real world, “can't be left _ on the shoulders of District 44 « alone,”’ added Parker. What the future holds for the committee is the plzn to form a task force of educators, businesspeople, parents and students. that will act in an.ad- ‘visory capacity for career pro- grams. This group’s sub-committees will cover: oh e public relations - promoting the chamber’s education committee as well.as business and education i in general: “within the commisnity; @ partnerships = keeping the .. community working with. education professionals to. im- prove the quality of education;. ® career programs - work on the school-based courses that focus on job skills to facilitate . new programs that reflect the community's needs; @ curriculum - helping schools to improve and update what they teach; and © professional development -— having businesspeople teach - their work skills to students. | School courses like the ca- reer development programs happen through the will of the community and the teachers, said Ainsworth, who adcied that the community should push for courses that focus on skills that are needed in the community. She said the local tourism industry needs qualified people so the community would be well served if the schools had tourism-related courses. The committee's long-term goals include a speakers’ bureau that would provide schools with lists of profes- sionals willing and able to speak to high school students ona variety of topics. SSS OOS OGG 6 OOF O68 O66 O©9SOS 08659600.