Speaker Spot Masthead Speaker Spot Logo


What is Speaker Spot?

Speaker Spot is a speaker’s service extended to the elementary and secondary schools in Niagara. It provides a first-hand opportunity for young people to learn about career experiences and expertise from people within their own community. These volunteers are a wonderful addition to the classroom and greatly enrich the educational experience of our students.

Coordinated locally by the Business Education Council, teachers can browse a listing of topics in an online database that men and women have offered to speak about. Teachers then contact the BEC with their requests and we do the legwork to connect them with a volunteer from the Niagara employer community. We hope by acting as a single point of contact with the school system, we eliminate many of the telephone calls that volunteer speakers otherwise might receive.

What are the benefits of Speaker Spot?

Speaker Spot directly supports curriculum and can be used as a tool for any career exploration and or subject enhancement. This FREE service benefits:

Students:

  • Exposes students to a variety of careers and career paths so they can reach their personal and economic goals
  • Enables students to learn first-hand about career possibilities by connecting them with someone from their own community
  • Inspires students to consider new career opportunities
  • Shows students the tools they need to realize their career goals
  • Encourages students to stay in school and steers them towards a wide range of courses
  • Demonstrates the relevance of their current studies to their future lives and careers

Educators:

  • Supports curriculum activities, career studies, Career Days, education week, job fairs, etc.
  • Provides a resource database of a wide range of speakers
  • Operates as a free service linking educators and the community
  • Easy and fast access through the Internet, telephone or fax

Speakers:

  • Enables speakers to positively influence students, and contribute their talents and experiences to Niagara’s youth
  • Generates interest in the speaker’s area of expertise and in their organization
  • Allows speakers to act as role models for students
  • Provides networking opportunities with other dynamic speakers

Organizations:

  • Enables organizations to achieve responsible corporate involvement in the community
  • Presents organizations as employers of choice

The Community

  • Strengthens community bonds by inspiring young people
  • Encourages diversity in the workforce
  • Creates greater opportunities in the workforce



Facts

  • Speaker Spot provides teachers and students with anonymous profiles of more than 300 community volunteers that are willing to share their expertise in Niagara’s classrooms.
  • The service is available to all secondary and elementary schools in the Niagara Region.
  • Speaker Spot is a valuable tool for the Grade 10 Career Studies course, Cooperative Education, and the Teacher Advisor Program.
  • Speaker profiles are organized in an on-line database at http://speakers.becon.org.
  • Our services differ from a traditional speakers bureau in three ways:
    • Workshops are held to equip volunteers with tips and techniques for presenting effectively to groups of young people.
    • On-line resources are available to help teachers prepare for classroom guests and make the most of the opportunity.
    • Speaking engagements are ‘booked’ through a central registry at the BEC, reducing the time spent by teachers wishing to invite a guest into their classroom.
  • Speaker Spot provides the employer community with a moderate but beneficial vehicle for contributing to the education of youth.
  • Speaker Spot supports the career exploration process by providing young people with the opportunity to learn first-hand about possible career choices.



Roles and Responsibilities

GUEST SPEAKER

  • Volunteers to participate
  • Commits time, energy, and expertise
  • Accepts requests when possible
  • Speaks with the teacher to receive all pre-visit information
  • Prepares accordingly
  • Travels to host school
  • Delivers presentation
  • Provides feedback to BEC on school visit
  • Reviews feedback from teacher upon request to BEC

BEC

  • Recruits volunteers
  • Maintains database and website
  • Provides resources to guest speakers and teachers
  • Promotes the program in the community
  • Matches topic requests with speakers
  • Calls and reserves speakers
  • Confirms visits with teachers
  • Initiates contact between speakers and teachers
  • Co-ordinates follow-up and feedback forms

TEACHER

  • Plans the lesson
  • Browses web database for suitable topic
  • E-mails request to BEC
  • Contacts guest (through BEC)
  • Provides guest with all relevant pre-visit information
  • Prepares students for guest visit
  • Meets, greets, and hosts the guest
  • Helps speaker during the presentation
  • Follows-up with a thank you to the speaker and feedback form to the BEC
  • Conducts post-visit activities with the class