When businesses and organizations open their doors to students to learn, the benefits can be shared by everyone. Arts Council Windsor & Region is a non-profit which advocates for local art and artists through education, resources, promotion, and their Walkerville home, ArtSpeak Gallery.
We spoke to Laura Service, the Gallery Manager & Membership Coordinator, about their experience with students:
What type of experiential learning opportunities have you hosted?
We’ve utilized co-op, Canada Summer Jobs, internships, and volunteer intern placements.
How did you find out about these opportunities?
Our organization has a history of offering placements to students in the arts as there are limited opportunities in our field. We are often approached by teachers and institutions asking us to host students.
What is beneficial about these placements for your organization?
We function with a very small staff team so our interns and co-op students are essential. Our interns and co-op students take on many daily operational tasks, clerical duties, and often accompany us at events/meetings.
Has there been the opportunity to hire students following a placement with your company?
Yes. We’ve hired students through the Canada Summer Jobs program following a internship placement. We’ve also hired former interns and co-op students as contract workers.
What would you say to other employers who have not yet taken advantage of an experiential learning opportunity?
It’s an excellent way to get support at a small cost of time and effort. We have been so lucky to be matched with so many excellent students and can’t praise these programs enough. It’s important to us to provide a valuable workplace learning experience for our students, and we’ve been able to do that and get support in our goals and programs as well. It’s a win-win situation!
Would you like to take part or get involved with an experiential learning opportunity? Visit our Learning Hub to learn more! For a list of available programs and school contacts, call 226–674–3220.
