SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Larry Connolly dreams of having full classes at the Yellowknife trades centre where he is principal.

Jada Hawkins, 16, a Grade 10 student at St. Patrick High School, plans out a wiring project during a class at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre. This year marks the centre's tenth anniversary, to be celebrated in June. Principal Larry Connolly says the centre is experiencing a drop in enrolment this year and wants students to consider it as an option for credits and trades experience. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo

Reaching that dream is an issue, though, as enrolment for high school students continues drop at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre following a trend that has spanned years.

"In semester one, it decreased by 24 per cent," said Connolly, comparing it to the 2012-13 school year. "And we had a 39 per cent decrease for semester two."

These drops date back to January 2012, when Connolly told Yellowknifer that enrolment was down both because of lower enrolment rates across the North and because high school students were finding it difficult to find time to come to the centre.

The centre is open to middle school and high school students, starting in Grade 7 with students coming once a week for 10 weeks to get a taste of hair styling, carpentry, small engine repair and robotics. This exploratory program used to be mandatory for Grade 9 students, but Yellowknife Catholic Schools made it optional this year which Connolly says is a factor in the recent enrolment drop.

The numbers for middle school students are on par with previous years and there was only a slight decrease in enrolment for students from Ecole Allain St. Cyr in the second semester.

Connolly is trying to reach out to high school students and encourage them to come to the trades centre, which can offer them skills, experience and even hours towards their apprenticeship if they choose to continue on in the trades.

"Effectively, the Grade 12 level is your first year apprenticeship and if they go on in their respected trades, they can get credits for the time they were here," he said.

The program at the high school level is split into three levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced in mechanics, welding, hair styling and construction carpentry.

"Each course is divided into modules of approximately 25 hours each," Connolly said. "The rule of thumb is 80 per cent hands-on and 20 per cent theory."

Part of the allure for students and parents, Connolly said, is that trades are a viable option for a first career.

"There's a resurgence in the trades," he said. "That's where there are job shortages. We have students that have come through our program and gone on into their apprenticeships who are doing very well for themselves."