By Leslie D.

The school to Work Transition Conference was held at the Colony Hotel in Toronto. This was the first International conference held in Canada. What is the school to work transition you ask? Well, it deals with programs available in schools that allow students to get out into the working world, for example the cooperative program (Coop) offered at many schools across Canada. It's a program where students get the opportunity to work in the field they wish to explore as their future career, by spending time working at a placement they have chosen. Students choose the career they want to pursue and through the program like coop they get the experience they need to get a head start into the world. This conference focused on the importance of school to work programs within the schools.

Twenty-five students from across Canada attended the first school to work transition conference which, started on Monday May 1 until Wednesday May 3, 2000. The students were there since Saturday April 29, which gave enough time for the students to prepare. With the help of the Students Commission the students had an experience of a lifetime. Students from Nunavet to Newfoundland attended. These students were specifically selected by their schools and were sponsored to attend the conference. They each represented a specific program that was available in their schools.

The student delegates produced a newsletter for each day of the conference. Articles were on reviews on the various workshops where many of the students were presenters themselves, there was a critique on the food by "Chef", it explained the various recommendations, the reason why they were there, where each student was from and more.

The students broke out into 5 different groups, each with a facilitator. Through these groups recommendations were made. These recommendations were focused on improving the school to work programs. The initial recommendations were presented during the opening ceremonies. Each group had three initial recommendations, students also began interviewing other delegates who attended the conference. These interviews allowed a different perspective on the various recommendations and so many were revised. Final recommendations were developed which were presented at the closing ceremonies of the conference. But just because the conference ended it did not mean the students work was finished. Students made sure a contact list was made available to the delegates. Which gave the adult delegates to contact a students from their province. A final report was also established, which was presented to Veronica Lacey, who was the conference chair. This report contained each of the five group's initial and final recommendations.

This was a remarkable experience for both youth and adult delegates. Both parties had the chance to interact, which allowed different point of views being taken into account. The students voices were heard and were taken seriously.