Bright future for youths at Cedarwood College

GLENFERNESS – Cedarwood School recently held its first-ever career expo so that schoolchildren could learn about some of the options available to them once they complete schooling.

February 7, 2020

Robyn Kirk 1 minute read

The future is bright for children from Cedarwood School, who recently learned a little bit more about what possibilities are out there for them once they matriculate.

On 31 January, the Glenferness-based remedial school held it’s very first annual Cedarwood School Career Expo, where children from grades 6 through to 12 got to learn about a range of professions that they might one day want to enter. Present among the exhibitionists was your very own Fourways Review, who used the opportunity to educate the children about the world of newspapers and media.

Afeefah Brockmann, Sasa Maholwana and Amber Monaghan are a few of the Grade 6s who also got to attend the expo, although the event was aimed at children in the higher grades of the school. *Photo: Robyn Kirk*

Cameron Petersen and Meagan Farrell are in Grade 11. “I think I want to do astrology one day,” Meagan said. “I liked learning about the Living Link [a non-profit organisation that caters for the intellectually disabled and learning challenged].” *Photo: Robyn Kirk*

“This is the first career expo that Cedarwood has ever hosted and we hope it becomes an annual event,” explained Sarah de Lange, in charge of marketing for the school. “We have 15 companies running stalls today in a broad range of fields and the children will be able to go around the expo and chat to them.

Thato Lebea and Hussain Ismail are in Grade 7. *Photo: Robyn Kirk*

“The purpose of today is to let learners from Cedarwood, as well as from Orion [Remedial School, which is based in Randburg and whose children were also invited to attend on the day] see that there are a lot of careers out there. So often children at high school age are expected to know what they want to do when they’re older and the pressure to go to university is real. But this expo is a way that we thought we could show the children that while university is one option, there are many others out there too.”

Organising the first-ever Cedarwood School Career Expo was a team effort that Nomsa Nyabeni, Sarah de Lange, Thulile Gambushe and Mazizi Chembe (all Cedarwood staff) did together. *Photos: Robyn Kirk*

Siya Mgulwa, Alwande Hlahatsi and Thato Ntilane smile between visiting stalls. “I’ve found the career expo exciting,” Thato told the Fourways Review. “I was particularly interested in learning from the flight training stall.”*Photo: Robyn Kirk*

The event was aimed primarily at children from grades 7 to 12 who make up the college phase of Cedarwood, although the Grade 6s from the preparatory phase were also invited. Besides company stalls, the event also saw members of the parent-teacher association selling boerewors rolls and cooldrinks and two guest speakers were invited to talk about their own career journeys.

Cedarwood School invited two entrepreneurs to act as guest speakers during the career expo on 31 January. Joy Dixon started her own coaching company, Joy Consulting, while Tiffini Hein started the Cool (Kids’) Cabs.Photo: Robyn Kirk

“Our guest speakers today are both entrepreneurs and both had quite interesting career journeys,” De Lange added. “Joy Dixon started her own coaching company, Joy Consulting, while Tiffini Hein started the Cook (Kids’) Cabs.”

Bjorn Mende in Grade 11 and Daniella Ramos in Grade 12 explore the exhibition stalls together.Photo: Robyn Kirk

The Fourways Review team was also present, giving away copies of the local newspaper and answering questions from the schoolchildren about what journalists and other Caxton staff do.