Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 12/05) - The wooden camp stool Neil Burns made wasn't quite a paint-by-number kit, but through that project, he discovered a knack with carpentry tools.

Neil Burns, a grade 12 student at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre, holds his most recent carpentry project - a folding camp-style stool. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

"It was simple. There were instructions that told us how to cut the pieces," Burns said.

"I cut all the angles so it would sit right. Then I put them together with screwnails and dowels."

As straightforward as Burns found the project, welding is where his true interest lies.

"I'd rather be in welding. I like welding a lot," Burns said.

Burns is a Grade 12 student learning trades at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre.

Each term, students get to try their hands at trades such as welding or carpentry and tackle hands-on projects.

Sometimes they find their career choice through a process of elimination.

Burns said the Kimberlite Centre is a nice place to learn and "try stuff out" and find a niche, but for the moment, he's sticking with the carpentry class.

The students are building a wooden frame shed for the Yellowknife Fire Department, who will use it for training.

This is Burns second year at the centre.

It was last year that he discovered a passion for welding while building guitar stands and a Ski-Doo stand from metal.

"I just like it. It's fun," he said.

Next semester, he plans to return to study welding further.

While he sticks to classroom work as he learns, he does have a project in mind.

"I'd like to build a really big jump for dirt biking," he said. -