Skills Ontario is promoting the pursuit of careers in skilled trades and technologies to youth while at home with the release of a social media video challenge, using hashtag #SkillsAtHome, to encourage the fun and continuous exploration of these career paths.
While students stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Skills Ontario is providing engaging activities through social media. The #SkillsAtHome series will consist of several challenges through coming weeks relating to the skilled trades and technologies.
To kick off the series, Skills Ontario has launched the #SkillsRollercoasterChallenge, where applicants are challenged to build a rollercoaster out of household supplies that keeps a ball in motion for more than five seconds without letting it touch the floor. This tests skills in the motive power, transportation, and construction sectors of the skilled trades and tech. Skills Ontario staff will judge video entries based on the length of the track and the amount of social media interactions on the Tweet submissions, as well as creativity, visual appeal, and construction.
“These are extraordinary times,” says Ian Howcroft, CEO of Skills Ontario. “Skills Ontario works to provide youth and their parents/guardians opportunities to explore skilled trades and tech through the challenging circumstances we’re facing. It was a disappointing decision to cancel our 2020 Skills Ontario Competition, originally scheduled for May 4-6, but the right one, as we prioritize the health and safety of the many Ontarians we reach. Through this social media initiative, our goal is to ensure that our many audiences can continue to learn about skilled trades and technologies through fun, experiential learning, all while staying safe at home.”
To participate in the challenge, audiences will be asked to share their video submissions on Twitter. Winners are chosen by the Skills Ontario team, and will be awarded prizes provided by Skills Ontario and its generous partners. All challenge details can be found at skillsontario.com/skillsathome.
Along with Twitter, Skills Ontario can also be found on Instagram at @skillsontario, on LinkedIn at “Skills Ontario”, and on Facebook at “Skills Canada – Ontario.” Skills Ontario looks forward to continuing to provide fun and interactive learning opportunities to build a strong and robust workforce.
