留住家乡的未来：纽芬兰甘德高中启动“Kickstart”计划，让孩子在家门口拥抱航空与矿业梦想

在纽芬兰中部，甘德（Gander）的一所高中正试图点燃年轻人对未来职场的渴望。甘德学院（Gander Collegiate）近日宣布将引入全新的课程材料，旨在为学生进入矿业、航空航天等多个领域做好准备。

这项名为“Kickstart”的计划为期18个月，是在本周于甘德举行的中央矿业会议（Central MinEx）期间正式推出的。

在发布会上，甘德学院校长克里·斯努克（Kerry Snook）表示：“We are proud to provide learning environments that inspire curiosity, build confidence and prepare students to pursue meaningful careers.”

Kickstart计划是甘德及地区商会（Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce）与省、联邦资助合作伙伴共同协作的成果。为了支持该项目，学校将投入超过30万美元的资金，用于完成设备更新、IT系统升级及电气设施改造。

对于像十年级学生亚历克西斯·格雷瓜尔（Alexis Gregoire）这样的学生来说，看到课程设置如此多元化感到非常兴奋。她说：“I’m seeing all of these different opportunities, and getting an idea of all of the possibilities is very good to see.”

格雷瓜尔目前在甘德学院就读十年级，她希望未来能在科技领域发展。她补充道：“I've been very interested in technologies and ROVs [remotely operated vehicles] and stuff like that, so seeing the drones and the ROV that they use here is very interesting,” 她接着说，“I’m seeing all of these different opportunities, and getting an idea of all of the possibilities is very good to see.”

根据一份准备好的新闻稿，Kickstart计划旨在“在劳动力市场挑战出现之前就着手解决”。该项目已明确将矿业和航空航天领域确定为未来愈发重要的行业需求。

格雷瓜尔认为，这不仅是职业选择，更是留住人才的机会：“I think a lot of students here would love to find work here and stay with their families and where they grew up in because it's very nice here,” 她说，“It's great that we're getting all of these new industries and opportunities for work.”

同样就读于甘德学院十年级的帕克·帕森斯（Parker Parsons）对此深表赞同。他说：“It’s pretty important because you can stay near the people you love and the people you’re comfortable with and you don't have to step into a different zone like moving away really far and finding a new job.”

帕森斯计划在毕业后从事空中导航工作，但他表示，在中央矿业会议（Central MinEx）上展示的矿业机会让他印象深刻。他说：“I think this event showed me that there's a lot more to do. And I heard there's good money in the mining industry, so I might have to go there.”

艾普丽尔·罗斯（April Rose）是甘德学院的计算机科学、技术和地球系统教师，她将成为负责教授这些新课程的教师之一。她说：“It’s basically going to give our kids the opportunity to pursue the jobs and opportunities that they never would have otherwise,” 她补充道，“This is taking opportunities that were once so restrictive to a curriculum and specific outcomes and it’s giving them the opportunity to pursue all these different skills that they would see right in the field.”

罗斯表示，学校正在努力为Kickstart带来的新学习机会做准备。她认为，让学生思考在家乡发展的职业前景是一项巨大的红利：“We’ve seen now, in talking about different careers that [they] can get within Gander and central Newfoundland, that they’re totally pivoting their whole mindset and their interests so that they want to pursue jobs that are [here] and then it’s going to contribute to the economy, and hopefully, the whole big thing.”

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