It was an exciting new take on an open house for Carlton Trail Regional College (CTRC).
An open house was held by CTRC on November 29 in Humboldt. The event took place at three locations in the city, including the CTRC's main campus, located in the same building as Humboldt Collegiate Institute, their shop by the railroad tracks and their shop located in the former Discovery Ford building on Main Street.
"We had over 100 people - we don't know exact numbers because not everyone signed in," said Rosalie Ronellenfitsch, Academic Studies Co-ordinator for CTRC.
At the open house, students had the opportunity to talk to representatives from post-secondary schools including the University of Regina, SIAST, the University of Saskatchewan and St. Peter's College, as well as some representatives from businesses like BHP Billiton and PotashCorp.
"They were able to learn about many different types of jobs," said Ronellenfitsch. "Students could also go and talk about training with the experts."
The open house did not just have opportunities for students to talk to experts - they could also try some of the different skills like plumbing, electrical, welding and industrial mechanics, as well as see some of the projects current and past students worked on.
"SIAST brought their motorized picnic table to show off," said Ronellenfitsch.
The college was excited about the success of their open house and hopes to have the hands-on open house become an annual event.
Ronellenfitsch hopes it showed citizens of Humboldt what the college has to offer in their own city.
"People still don't know the wide variety of programs we offer," said Ronellenfitsch. "We offer a lot to the community."
She explained they are trying to bring more programs into the community and would like to hear from the community what they would be interested in having offered in Humboldt.
"We already have a list," said Ronellenfitsch. "Quite a few students are interested in the trades."
Once they move into the new building they will be sharing with HCI, they will be able to offer programs they couldn't before due to new technology.
"The new building will have teleconferencing abilities and we will be able to offer more classes," said Ronellenfitsch.
She urges anyone interested in a program to give the college a call and, if they don't already offer it, they will look into bringing it to the area.
