On November 3 my class participated in Take Your Kid to Work Day, a day that students go to work with parents or other family members/guardians. I chose to go to work with my Aunt who is the head of communications for the District of North Vancouver.
Final video⬇️
When I went to District Hall with my Aunt, I sat in on a zoom call with her about updating the district website which was very interesting. It was a very good opportunity to be able to see what she does everyday as head of communications, it’s a much bigger job than I expected.
District Hall⬇️
After that meeting, we did a tour of District Hall and I saw her office and where the council sits. This was an important part of my day because I had a chance to see where members of the North Vancouver District Council sit as well as the mayor, and discuss issues within my very own community.
Council room⬇️
Our next stop on the tour of things the district is in charge of is the Lynn Valley Library. There was two important things that we looked at while we were there: the first being the construction of the rainbow crosswalk and second being the Lynn Valley stabbing memorial. The reason we focused on the crosswalk is because they have to tear it up for issues with water pipes and BC hydro. But, this is a bit controversial because they are tearing up a symbol of North Vancouver’s acceptance and support of the LGBTQ+ community. My aunt, as she is in communications, is in charge of making sure the public doesn’t misunderstand this for a removal of the crosswalk. It will be replaced, it is simply a necessary construction project:
Rainbow Crosswalk⬇️
A huge part of my Aunt’s job in March was making sure the people in the district understood the circumstances of the Lynn Valley stabbing, making sure that people knew their community was still safe and communicating any necessary information to the public. We can see a memorial there now that my aunt played a role in designing. Each person on her team had a different role in organizing this memorial, one person designed what it would look like, one person actually wrote it, etc. I think my aunt and her team did a really good job of comforting and communicating with the people of Lynn Valley and the North Shore now that I got to see it from a behind the scenes perspective.
Photo of the memorial⬇️
Finally, our last stop was here:
Empty lot⬇️
This is where the Maplewood Fire and Rescue centre will be by (2023?) which my Aunt has a role in communicating between the people and the district about what is going on with the construction of it. This Fire Hall will also be a training centre for new Fire Fighters as well as climate friendly with Solar Panels and recycled water. Here is what it is expected to look like:
New Fire Hall⬇️
I think this is a really interesting job that I would even like to go into in the future. I learned a lot about what my Aunt does and what the district is working on right now, but I also learned that it’s a lot of work and takes a lot of skill. I am really happy and glad that I had this experience and I look forward to learning more about her job and other careers in communications.
Fun fact, while visiting district hall I learned that we have a “sister city” in South Korea called the District of Goro-gu. That means there is a city in South Korea that is around the same size as us, and we have been sister cities since 2009. During COVID 19 they have supplied us with over 20 thousand masks.