Mrs. Gillett's and Mrs. May-Sholdice's Grade 4 class at Holy Family School, with rdnewsNOW's Josh Hall during Career Week.

By Josh Hall

getting some ideas for later

Red Deer’s Holy Family School gets kids thinking about eventual careers

Feb 4, 2026 | 4:02 PM

Ah yes, the age old question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

That’s the focal point of Career Week at Red Deer’s Holy Family School, where community members representing many a number of occupations are dropping by this week to give presentations.

By the week’s end, students in grades 1-5 will have heard from a nurse, a plumber, a marine emergency response technician, someone from shipping and receiving at the Joffre plant, City of Red Deer staff, a graphic designer, a hockey announcer, and even a journalist.

“This gets them thinking, which is good because by the time they get to high school, they have to be thinking already about what courses they need to get into certain college programs,” says Madison Boersma, counsellor at Holy Family.

“They may not know yet [what you want to pursue], but having a good base knowledge can help them figure out what their interests, hobbies and skills are. We want to set them up as best we can.”

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Mrs. Windle’s Grade 4s and Mrs. Hirsch’s Grade 5 class at Holy Family.

They also enjoy seeing the tools of the trade, like a field microphone, and speaking with real people instead of reading about jobs online or in a textbook.

“It’s eye-opening for them to see what may be attainable within central Alberta, but also that there are a lot of other cool things to do [outside their hometown],” Boersma adds.

“With the marine emergency response technician, who is Australian, he worked in the Australian Army, then taught P.E. in Cambodia for a year while waiting for his Visa — so it’s cool for the kids to see you can go far and wide, you can change careers multiple times in your lifetime.”

Boersma, speaking during Canadian School Counselling Week, believes Career Week even more beneficial because it allows kids to hear from people who come from all walks of life.