Guest Speaker: Indigenous Veteran  ~  Tim O’Loan

Sudbury Catholic Schools is pleased to invite Grade 7-12 classrooms to attend a presentation by our guest speaker, Tim O’Loan. Tim O’Loan is a is a proud indigenous (Sahtu Dene) Veteran, having served 10 years (1983-1993) in the military. During his presentation, classes will be taken through Tim’s story as he provides his insight and experiences to provide an engaging presentation that ends with an interactive Q/A section at the end.

WHEN: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 12, 2022 AT 9:00 AM

REGISTER: To get the zoom link to attend this presentation, please email Shannon.agowissa@sudburycatholicschools.ca

More Information: 

“Tim O’Loan comes from two wounded communities: one military, one Indigenous. Tim is a proud Indigenous (Sahtu Dene) Veteran, having served 10 years (1983-1993) in the military. Throughout Tim’s life he experienced massive amounts of racism and trauma. The racism and his search for his identity was something Tim struggled with until his mid 40’s when he started working at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).” Given his unique history, Tim O’Loan now identifies as a knowledge keeper and continues to share this unique perspective across Canada and beyond, particularly through the Indigenous Veterans lens, mental health and Reconciliation.

Last week students from Grades 7-12 at Sudbury Catholic Schools had the opportunity to hear from Jamie McMillan, a Journeyman Ironworker/Boilermaker and founder of Work Boots Careers/Kick-Ass Careers.

Jamie has been an Ironworker since 2002. Although she’s always been fascinated by mining and construction, and acting as her dad’s “side kick” around the house, it took a while before Jamie found her calling.

After graduating from high school in Timmins, her mom encouraged her to go into nursing. Jamie became a personal support worker by day and waitress and bartender by night. She was miserable, and didn’t like the pay or the hours, and wanted something more.

Jamie had just moved to Hamilton when she bumped into an old high school acquaintance on the street, who happened to be an Ironworker. That was the moment everything changed. “I looked up the union hall in the phone book and I walked in there, and I’m so glad,” Jamie says. She filled out applications, sent in high school transcripts, took tests, and was hired as an apprentice by Ironworkers Local 736 in Hamilton. She “earned and learned,” putting her union hall training and instruction in welding and fabrication into practice on the job.

Jamie speaks to more than 25,000 students, parents, educators and employers each year across North America. She has opened doors and minds to the career possibilities in the skilled trades, and shows youth an alternate pathway to rewarding and well-paid careers in the trades. She is also an inspiration and mentor to hundreds of young women. Jamie takes several months off each year from her skilled trades job to promote careers in underrepresented occupations and to encourage youth to consider the vast opportunities skilled labour has to offer.