by Heidi Hackman & Colleen McNamee, District Career Coordinators, SD 63 | photo by Janis Jean Photography –
This is the time when people pause and reflect on the past year and set new goals or intentions for the new one ahead. In this column we profile students who have found alternative pathways to graduation, having participated in district career programs or dual credit opportunities with our post secondary partners. These opportunities provide students with an opportunity to jump start their career while they are still in high school. By starting this journey in high school, students open so many doors and can be eligible for numerous scholarships, like the Youth Work in Trades Award, the Apprentice Incentive Grants and so many more! The best part is our career teachers in Saanich take great pride in supporting students, even after they have finished high school!
Riley Gains graduated from Claremont in 2021 and took the Welding Foundation program at Camosun as part of his grade 12 year. His interest and love of welding was sparked in his ninth-grade class as he said he “found it fun and easy to do!” After completing the foundation program he secured an apprenticeship at SeaSpan and completed the Youth Work in Trades Program, logging over 900 hours and completing four courses. We will be presenting Riley with his $1,000 award soon. He loves every minute of his job, and finds joy in the variety of work he can do. Riley commented that he “loves how much different stuff I can do as a welder from welding on huge navy ships to small brackets or art pieces that I make.” He also noted “how versatile welding can be as it opens up a huge web of careers.” Riley’s advice to those in high school is to “try to pick a trade that is in demand and even if it’s hard to find work when you get out of school, go talk to the local unions when you do get out, as they are very helpful for advice and finding work.” Riley has definitely found his passion and, at only 19 years of age, is well on his way to a successful career in a field that will have thousands of job openings in the next few years with great earning potential.
The Skills and Trades teachers in our schools are the first ones to motivate a student’s interest in the trades. In the last few years the number of students selecting these elective classes has grown but budgets for these consumable heavy programs have not kept pace. On top of that, new safety rules mean classes need more PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to be able to function as they would like. We were very fortunate to receive six class kits of PPE (gloves, jackets, welding helmet, ear plugs, safety goggles etc) from CWB ( Canadian Welding Bureau) Foundation. The CWB Welding Foundation is a national non-profit foundation whose vision is to “support the Canadian welding industry in having a sustainable labour supply of skilled welding professionals that contribute to our economic prosperity.” This donation will allow our amazing skills and trades teachers to inspire more students like Riley to choose welding and other metal trades as their career pathway.
