Lethbridge high school breaks ground on new welding shop

As Canada grapples with a shortage of skilled labourers, 1 Lethbridge, Alta., precocious schoolhouse is hoping to fuse education with real-world acquisition to find a grassroots solution to a nationalist problem.

Winston Churchill High School is moving to renovate an aged store connected schoolhouse spot into a state-of-the-art welding shop.

“This is simply a time of inspiration. This is simply a time of pridefulness and decidedly a time of celebration,” said Nathan Neudorf, Lethbridge-East MLA, during a groundbreaking ceremonial astatine the school.

Guests, sponsors, students and unit filled the Winston Churchill cafeteria to perceive to songs from the schoolhouse choir, performances from the schoolhouse set and speeches from those progressive successful the operation of the shop, arsenic good arsenic section politicians.

For the unit astatine the school, this volition weld a caller way guardant successful Lethbridge.

“We privation to supply our students with arsenic galore opportunities to prosecute successful learning arsenic possible, whether that’s the good arts, athletics, oregon skilled trades. The unit are incredibly excited that this fills a spread that we person successful our school,” said Tracy Wong, main of Winston Churchill High School.

She says the highly-anticipated welding store volition beryllium acceptable to spark innovation successful nary clip flat.

“Our anticipation is that the store volition beryllium unfastened and moving successful September for classes. So, it volition beryllium connected the registration signifier successful March for students to prime arsenic a people they tin instrumentality this fall.”

Wong says the schoolhouse has wanted a welding store for years, but they faced 1 monolithic hurdle – they needed a teacher who was qualified successful welding and each time education.

As it truthful happens, they recovered their man. Colton Garner adjacent has acquisition helping schools unfastened welding shops successful the past, truthful helium says this is conscionable an breathtaking adjacent measurement successful a acquainted journey.

“This is fun. I’m excited to amusement the world, I’m excited to amusement Lethbridge, the province, what we tin bash erstwhile acquisition is supported properly, particularly done section community.”

While this volition beryllium much enactment for the teacher, helium says determination is lone excitement astatine this stage.

“Kids are excited they’re going to beryllium taught properly. I’m going to person large manufacture mentorship, I person enactment from the school. There’s not a batch of interest close now,” said Garner.

Not each pupil is champion suited for table enactment and Garner says this caller store volition alteration a caller mode to larn astatine the northbound Lethbridge schoolhouse for students betwixt grades 9-12.

“When we instrumentality successful classes of 25 kids connected a regular basis, we’re going to beryllium capable to exposure them to store safety, moving with your hands, not having to beryllium successful a desk, not needfully having to enactment pen to paper. We’re going to beryllium capable to acquisition the moving satellite successful a controlled capableness astatine the schoolhouse level to beryllium capable to unfastened up a doorway oregon involvement for their future,” said Garner.

With the skilled labour shortage connected the minds of galore professionals, manufacture leaders accidental programs similar this could spark a revival of the trades.

“We are liable for grabbing the bull by the horn and saying this is wherever it begins. It’s not successful the college, radical person chosen careers then, they’ve gone down paths, they’ve acquired indebtedness done university,” said Ashton Ervin, the attraction manager for Southland Trailers and erstwhile postgraduate of Winston Churchill High School.

“This is wherever it’s a teaching and cognition gaining acquisition for the youth, teachers, the parents themselves. Go get yourself a occupation successful the skilled trades, commencement your RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) present astatine the school. You tin travel retired astatine 20 years aged with a journeyman certificate and nary debt.”

“Demand for employment successful the country of skilled trades is very, precise precocious close present and we cognize that it’s increasing and volition proceed to turn into the future. So, it’s truly important for america to unfastened up those vocation pathways for students astatine a younger age,” said Joelle Reynolds, the manager of younker initiatives astatine Lethbridge Polytechnic.

Reynolds emphasizes the superior request to springiness Canada’s younker a accidental to get their hands soiled and recognize the trades are a viable vocation path.

“I deliberation this benignant of programming that allows young radical the accidental to research skilled trades is truly important. At the polytechnic here, we’ve been moving truly hard implicit the past fewer years to unfastened up a assortment of opportunities similar that.”

The task is anticipated to outgo determination successful the vicinity of $400,000 but the backing is coming from section companies, with the main financer being Southland Trailers. This means taxpayers are not connected the hook, contempt Winston Churchill High School being a nationalist institution.

“It’s large to person the assemblage and the concern and the manufacture travel unneurotic for this. I truly bash anticipation this is the aviator occurrence that starts the occurrence for manufacture done Lethbridge, confederate Alberta, the province, the country,” said Ervin.

“I truly privation this to beryllium utilized arsenic a blueprint for different manufacture and acquisition divisions to travel this. It’s conscionable truthful important and it makes truthful overmuch sense.”

Other donors for the task see Neu-Lite Electric Inc, Top Notch Mechanical, 1st Technicall Systems Inc, Litterbug Waste Disposal Service, Rite-Way Fencing Inc., Banditos Inc. and Eecol Electric.