As Canada grapples with a shortage of skilled labourers, one Lethbridge, Alta., high school is hoping to fuse education with real-world experience to find a grassroots solution to a national problem.
Winston Churchill High School is working to renovate an old garage on school property into a state-of-the-art welding shop.
“This is a day of inspiration. This is a day of pride and definitely a day of celebration,” said Nathan Neudorf, Lethbridge-East MLA, during a groundbreaking ceremony at the school.
Guests, sponsors, students and staff filled the Winston Churchill cafeteria to listen to songs from the school choir, performances from the school band and speeches from those involved in the construction of the shop, as well as local politicians.
For the staff at the school, this will weld a new path forward in Lethbridge.
“We want to provide our students with as many opportunities to engage in learning as possible, whether that’s the fine arts, athletics, or skilled trades. The staff are incredibly excited that this fills a gap that we have in our school,” said Tracy Wong, principal of Winston Churchill High School.
She says the highly-anticipated welding shop will be ready to spark innovation in no time flat.
“Our hope is that the shop will be open and running in September for classes. So, it will be on the registration form in March for students to pick as a course they can take this fall.”
Wong says the school has wanted a welding shop for years, but they faced one massive hurdle – they needed a teacher who was qualified in welding and every day education.
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As it so happens, they found their man. Colton Garner even has experience helping schools open welding shops in the past, so he says this is just an exciting next step in a familiar journey.
“This is fun. I’m excited to show the world, I’m excited to show Lethbridge, the province, what we can do when education is supported properly, especially through local community.”
While this will be more work for the teacher, he says there is only excitement at this stage.
“Kids are excited they’re going to be taught properly. I’m going to have great industry mentorship, I have support from the school. There’s not a lot of worry right now,” said Garner.
Not every student is best suited for desk work and Garner says this new shop will enable a new way to learn at the north Lethbridge school for students between grades 9-12.
“When we take in classes of 25 kids on a daily basis, we’re going to be able to expose them to shop safety, working with your hands, not having to sit in a desk, not necessarily having to put pen to paper. We’re going to be able to experience the working world in a controlled capacity at the school level to be able to open up a door or interest for their future,” said Garner.
With the skilled labour shortage on the minds of many professionals, industry leaders say programs like this could spark a revival of the trades.
“We are responsible for grabbing the bull by the horn and saying this is where it begins. It’s not in the college, people have chosen careers then, they’ve gone down paths, they’ve acquired debt through university,” said Ashton Ervin, the maintenance manager for Southland Trailers and former graduate of Winston Churchill High School.
“This is where it’s a teaching and knowledge gaining experience for the youth, teachers, the parents themselves. Go get yourself a job in the skilled trades, start your RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) here at the school. You can come out at 20 years old with a journeyman certificate and no debt.”
“Demand for employment in the area of skilled trades is very, very high right now and we know that it’s growing and will continue to grow into the future. So, it’s really important for us to open up those career pathways for students at a younger age,” said Joelle Reynolds, the director of youth initiatives at Lethbridge Polytechnic.
Reynolds emphasizes the serious need to give Canada’s youth a chance to get their hands dirty and understand the trades are a viable career path.
“I think this type of programming that allows young people the opportunity to explore skilled trades is really important. At the polytechnic here, we’ve been working really hard over the last few years to open up a variety of opportunities like that.”
The project is anticipated to cost somewhere in the vicinity of $400,000 but the funding is coming from local companies, with the principal financer being Southland Trailers. This means taxpayers are not on the hook, despite Winston Churchill High School being a public institution.
“It’s great to have the community and the partnership and the industry come together for this. I really do hope this is the pilot flame that starts the fire for industry through Lethbridge, southern Alberta, the province, the country,” said Ervin.
“I really want this to be used as a blueprint for other industry and educational divisions to follow this. It’s just so important and it makes so much sense.”
Other donors for the project include Neu-Lite Electric Inc, Top Notch Mechanical, 1st Technicall Systems Inc, Litterbug Waste Disposal Service, Rite-Way Fencing Inc., Banditos Inc. and Eecol Electric.