Trisha Shanks
Arrow Lakes News
Two Nakusp Secondary School students and their fathers found themselves seated in the stands for Grey Cup held in Vancouver on November 30. Cameron Mackintosh and Tim Barisoff were selected from all of the NSS students based on teacher recommendations by the principal, Natasha Miles.
The boys and their fathers, local business owner Coleman Mackintosh and NSS staff member Ken Barisoff left Nakusp Saturday to catch their 37-minute flight from Kelowna to Vancouver. The entire weekend was sponsored by the BC Lions, who partnered with the Ministry of Education and Pacific Northwest LNG.
On Sunday the foursome attended the Grey Cup, featuring the Calgary Stampeders against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The boys got to head onto the field for the halftime show with pop group Imagine Dragons. Cameron said, “That was my best memory of the weekend. They’re my favourite band.” Tim agreed, “It was a great time, there were lots of kids from all over the place.”
He is referring to the large group of participants who attended the summit on Monday. Students attended different sessions throughout the day, falling into two main categories: Information about finding work in the trades and discussions around anti-bullying and violence against women. WorkBC’s ‘Find Your Fit’ held great interest for the boys. It is a workshop which allows students to try out ten of the different trades in hands-on situations. It was held on Monday at the Richmond Olympic Oval Centre.
Cameron said, “I really liked learning some of the skills at the oval the next day, like welding.” He thinks he might be interested in a career in computer programming, but Tim is looking at carpentry or auto mechanics.
Ken Barisoff said, “The fun items were great, but as a teacher I found it really nice to have a new perspective on motivational techniques towards some important issues from the next day. The two main topics were the trades Find Your Fit, like a youth trade fair. They had really neat approaches to showing the kids what the trades are about.” He also spoke about receiving a profound message concerning antibullying and violence against women. “To see the football players advocating kindness and stopping violence, considering the sport is pretty violet. They are there striving to create a society without bullying and without violence. They had a really good message.”
After their two full days and three nights away, the group got up at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday to get their plane back to Kelowna and were back at school on Wednesday.
“We were happy to be selected and gratefully accepted the opportunity,” concludes Ken.