Trying out trades
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, October 19, 2013
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A group of 51 Grade 8 and 9 students from throughout the South Slave shared five days studying various trades at Aurora College's Thebacha campus in Fort Smith late last month.
Jasmine Norn of Diamond Jenness Secondary School affixes a light socket to a wall frame during the Trades Awareness Program at Aurora College Thebacha Campus late last month. - photo courtesy of Steven Lee
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The students stayed in residence while getting hands-on instruction in four trades over four days. The final day of the program focused on career development activities.
Trades practised by the students included carpentry, plumbing, electrical, aviation, heavy duty mechanics, cooking and auto mechanics
"The goal is to involve the students in trades-related programming at Aurora College and to help them clarify and identify some career pathways based on their experiences in the trades," said Brent Kaulback, assistant superintendent of the South Slave school division. "They get exposure to the trades programs at the college, but also general exposure to career-awareness activities, as well."
The program, which began in 2004, is run by the South Slave Divisional Education Council in partnership with Aurora College and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Participating schools include Lutsel K'e Dene School, Deninu School in Fort Resolution, Paul William Kaeser Secondary School in Fort Smith, Diamond Jenness Secondary School in Hay River, Chief Sunrise Education Centre on Katlodeeche First Nation.
"We've had hundreds of students go through the program," Kaulback said. "There's certainly high interest on the part of the students."
An assessment commissioned by the council two years ago concluded that, depending on the community, between seven and 20 percent of the students who participate in the program go on to pursue careers in the trades.
Grade 10, 11 and 12 students will participate in the intensive, phase two of the program, in which they focus on one trade at the college for five days, sometime in December.
