A shed that builds careers
College reaches out to middle school
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 22, 2014
IQALUIT
Young people come from all over Nunavut to attend the housing maintainer program at Nunavut Arctic College, but the program's capacity is about half what it could be. So the program's senior instructor is reaching out to middle school students.
"The more we can get in, the happier we would be," said Noel Collins. "By the time we get to them in high school, they've already selected what they're doing. The younger crowd haven't really decided. So it opens an avenue for them to have a look."
Collins teamed up with Don Peters, principal of Aqsarniit middle school in Iqaluit, to make the connection. Together they came up with a visible idea that engages the young students while providing a practical project for the future journeymen.
"We have a Ski-Doo program with five Ski-Doos and we've never had a place to house them except in our seacans," Peters said. So Collins and his students built a 24-foot by 24-foot (7.3 metre by 7.3 metre) shed that now sits beside the entrance to the school's parking lot.
"In our curriculum we have to show them how to repair walls, floors, ceilings, and what better way to show them than an actual construction?" Collins asked. "They can see how a building is put together from the inside, where they normally wouldn't see that."
The resulting shed would have cost about $50,000, a sum Aqsarniit could not afford. With the collaboration, the shed supplies cost $15,000, split between the school and the college.
But the shed does more than house snow machines.
It shows the teens the opportunities available in carpentry and other housing related careers.
Collins brought his housing maintainer students out, and soon, Aqsarniit students will head to the college to visit the shop at the Old Residence.
"Getting kids to start thinking (about college) in middle school age, with a goal set in mind, it's much easier to handle high school," Peters said. "The rigours of high school today, there's so much information kids have to know, they really have to start thinking in high school what they're going to do. Especially with the dropout rates in high school, it's nice to have those goals set."
Collins' graduates now work across the territory as housing maintainers in hamlets, and for construction firms such as NCC.
"It's a lot about orienting them to know what's next," Peters said. "If we open that door for them, give them a chance to get in and know people like Noel, all of a sudden that's gone and we have kids talking about being a carpenter or electrician."
