As a Career Educator and District Principal, Brian Campbell is invested in giving students hands-on experiences.
District Principals Keith MacGillivray (left) and Brian Campbell (right)
Up in Fort Saint John, SD60 (new window) teachers and administrators have an innovative approach to career education. Partnerships with local industries allow support and funding for many of the district programs, giving students access to a wide variety of facilities, experiences and career options.
When Brian learned about Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change Chapter Leader program (new window), he saw the opportunity to introduce students to career skills while impacting their community in a positive way.
“In my family, it was expected that you use your time and resources to help others,” explains Brian. “The thing I really love about Makers Making Change is it allows people to use and develop skills to help others.”
An amazing team came together to create a successful first event in January 2020. Held at Duncan Cran Elementary (new window), fourteen Grade 12 students learned to build three different assistive devices: a light touch switch (new window), a raindrop switch (new window) and a pen ball (new window).
In the morning session, students learned the skills required to build the devices. Then, in the afternoon, the students were tasked with instructing their teachers how to build the same devices!
Student soldering; photo from Alaska Highway News article about the buildathon
“My favorite moment was during a light switch buildathon, where a Grade 12 student from North Peace Secondary School was teaching a retired principal how to solder,” says Brian.
“It was amazing to see the intergenerational cooperation and learning. They were excited to work together on a common goal. It was truly inspiring!”
As a result of these first events, MMC Fort Saint John has delivered five demo kits with various devices to disability professionals organizations in the area. Several teachers brought devices to their classrooms to use with their students at Alwin Holland (new window) and Wonowon Elementary (new window).
Thank you, Brian!
Continue reading about Brian’s volunteer work (new window) on our Makers Making Change website.