News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – High school students across New Brunswick will take part in the second annual ChatterHigh competition from Oct. 2 to Dec. 1.

“This competition is a practical hands-on tool to encourage our youth to start thinking about and planning their careers,” said Labour, Employment and Population Growth Minister Gilles LePage. “I encourage all high school students to take part in this fun and engaging learning opportunity.”

ChatterHigh is an online educational game that engages students, teachers and parents in labour market information and career planning.

Participating students research and answer 10 questions daily that relate to various careers. Each correct answer earns their school one point. Post-secondary institutions in New Brunswick provide questions for students to answer. The questions require students to use online career resources, such as NBjobs.ca and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, to learn about labour market information.

“ChatterHigh is an innovative way to engage students and encourage them to look to future career possibilities,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brian Kenny. “This initiative exposes students to important tools which will help them navigate that stage of their life.”

The 17 schools with the most points will receive a monetary prize. Schools with a similar number of students will be competing against each other and prize money will be proportionally allocated to the top winners of each pool. Schools can use the winnings at their discretion for a school-community project.

The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour has sponsored over 100 game questions and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has provided $5,000 for the winning schools.

"With a tsunami of information online, researching options can be overwhelming for today's youth,” said Lee Taal, founder and CEO of EdTech ChatterHigh. “As a result, many students are not aware of the resources and pathways available to them, even in their own province. New Brunswick is a leader in adopting innovative platforms to help their students. We are pleased to partner with them to run a provincewide competition using our online educational game to make exploring this information fun.”