Life and land

Making a living off the land is still possible in the iPod generation.

But what was once a natural journey for high school kids looking to make their mark on the world is all but forgotten. On Monday the province began the first of four planned sessions with students across Northwestern Ontario, discussing the possibility of careers in the natural resource field.
 
Claudia Linklater, a 17-year-old Grade 11 student at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School said she hasn’t really ever considered working in the field, which includes everything from forestry and provincial parks to farming and research science.

But the Sandy Lake First Nation teen said, with the world shrinking and resource-based industry making more and more inroads into Northern Ontario, she sees opportunities beginning to open up.

“It’s going to be a part of my reserve,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it. It’s our land and it’s moving there, so I’m wondering about it.

“We took care of our land before, so I think it would be a really good opportunity for young people to help out with that.”
 
Michelle Nowak, a regional communications and marketing specialist, said enhancing teen understanding of the natural resource careers available to them could help them set their future path at an early age.

The interaction with people in the field provides an immediate connection and the answers to most of the questions typical teenagers have when thinking about their futures.

“It’s one thing for students to get an idea what the different careers are through pamphlets and through programs and talking to academic counselors, but today it really gives them the opportunity to speak one-on-one with conservation officers, with foresters, with biologists and really find out what they do on a day-to-day basis and the kinds of preparations they had to go through to enter into their career,” Nowak said.

She added the Ministry of Natural Resources has identified a real need for students in Grades 9 to 12 in the region to learn about potential careers and over the past three years the questions being asked both in the classroom and during the booth presentation shows keenness beyond the students’ years.

First Nations teens, who often hail from communities facing unemployment rates in the 80 per cent range, can particularly benefit.

“They don’t always have a good sense of what a farmer does, what a biologist does, what a forester does, and more importantly, the different areas you can work in.”

The tour continues Tuesday in Nipigon, Wednesday in Terrace Bay and Thursday in Marathon.