[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/carpet edited.jpg” caption=”Grade 9 students took part in a variety of activities during McMaster’s Take Our Kids to Work Day. Photo by Lorraine Redford.”]McMaster hosted 100 Grade 9 students at the 12th annual Take Our Kids to Work Day on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The hosts and students enjoyed breakfast and opening remarks from Susan Mitchell and Chris Hurley of Human Resources Services.

From there, the students split into four pre-registered groups and participated in a variety of tours, including the Clinical Learning Centre in the Department of Health Science, the Planetarium Show, the Department of Psychology, Behaviour and Neuroscience, and McMaster's own Nuclear Reactor.

After the tours, the groups reassembled for 90 minutes to join the McMaster Altitude Team for some exhilarating team building activities. This was definitely the highlight of the day for most of the participants.

When the students were asked what the best part of their day was, the Altitude activities received rave reviews. Not at all surprising, since it was the only event on campus to get 100 14 year-olds out of their shells!

After lunch, the students learned about careers in Health Sciences from Monica Anderson of HSC Human Resources. Marvin Gunderman, affectionately known on campus as the “Bugman,” then captured the crowd's attention with his display and discussion of rare insects.

The students had many opportunities to experience working at McMaster, and displayed positive enthusiasm while participating in the scheduled activities. The afternoon portion gave the students the chance to job shadow their host in their respective places of employment.