In early October, Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank mine team was pleased to host two Grade 9 classes from the Community of Baker Lake’s Jonah Amitnaaq High School as part of Canada’s annual Take Our Kids to Work Day (TOKTW) events – a first for our site!

Each year this event allows Grade 9 students to step into their future for a day and experience the working world by immersing themselves in the career of a parent, relative, or friend and learn what is involved in the day to day activities of that job.

Meadowbank welcomed a total of 26 students, along with three teachers and made sure that there were many engaging activities to help the students better understand the mining world.

The work day began with a tour — specifically, an outside site visit. For many of the students, it was their first opportunity to see an open pit mine. Along the way, they were also able to spot the Dome, the Crusher, the Process Plant and see Haul Trucks loaded with ore as they passed on the road.

Over lunch some of the students had the chance to sit down with their relatives and share stories of what they had experienced in the morning and then the afternoon planning was dedicated to visiting the camp and its facilities.

Some of the groups which hosted visitors during the day included the Health & Safety’s Emergency Response, Geology and Training teams enabling the students to meet with Haul Truck trainers, Housekeeping employees, Maintenance staff, the Mine Dispatch and the Warehouse teams. All departments had a representative available to describe their day-to-day job and answer the many enthusiastic questions.

The day came to a successful close with one final stop — the camp Kitchen – where they had the chance to get creative and decorated cupcakes to take back home, a great end to a fun and successful day!

“This Canada-wide initiative was a huge success with the students – the kids are still talking about the day-trip now, weeks after the fact”, said Katelyn Proulx, a member of the organizing team as well as an Adult Educator at Agnico Eagle.

With such positive reception from the school, Agnico Eagle hopes to participate in this event for many more years to come.