Algoma District School Board organizes welding camps for 8th graders at Sault and Blind River stores
As part of the push for young people to be interested in pursuing careers in specialized trades, the Algoma District School Board is organizing Mind Over Metal welding camps for students ages 12-15 in Sault Ste. Marie and Blind River this week and next.
The camps are funded by the CWB Welding Foundation and Tenaris with support from the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 store at 165 Northern Avenue East.
The camps are aimed at students who have finished 8th grade and move on to 9th in the fall.
The welding seems to have aroused the interest of the students attending the program.
“I originally chose business for 9th grade, but now that I’ve been in that class I’ve decided to change it. I’ll call the school and change it. I really think this could be a career I’m trying to pursue,” Peyton King said. , who recently graduated from Northern Heights Public School and is heading to 9th grade at Superior Heights in September.
“I definitely like welding, but I would also like to study architecture or carpentry.”
King described what attracts him to trades, especially welding.
“The way I can perfect everything I’m doing, working with my hands and the noises and sounds of welding, I can always know where I can fix things and how it should sound, so I really like to understand and I know where and how I can fix things, “King said.
“I’ve always been interested, but now he’s woken up a lot.”
“It feels great,” said Samantha Newman, a Korah Collegiate graduate who has just been assigned to an apprenticeship.
“I just started doing it in high school, a couple of classes, and manufacturing was the class I liked the most. It’s nice. We made trailer hitch covers, some people made fires. Where I can get a job is where I will go, ”Newman said.
Emily Potvin is a third-year plumbing apprentice at Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 with the intention of becoming a plumbing installer.
“I was in business. I was willing to take over a business and I no longer liked not being in the tools, so I went back to school. I did a pre-trade through the Ontario government and from there I applied to a couple of different shops. I was looking to be a miller, but I came in here and I haven’t looked back since. “
“I love it,” Potvin said.
“I’m doing something different every day. You learn to do something in 10 different ways and you choose what suits you. Work, companionship, teamwork … I work with a welder all the time so that you are good friends and you can build something from the ground up or rebuild it. It’s wonderful to be a part of something. “
Specialized trades are lucrative.
“I can’t complain about the pay,” Potvin smiled.
“It’s worth every penny I earn. I love my job.”
There is a special focus among educators on encouraging women to enter specialized trades.
It is very rare (women in trades), which surprises me a lot. There could have been a lot of abuse and maybe that’s why, but I think anyone can be in the trades, whatever happens. It’s been a lot of fun. I thought I would be tired and it would be like school, but it’s not like school. I get to be here and I’m actually working instead of sitting at a desk, but I get to be very practical, which is nice, ”King said.
“Right now we have eight girls and everyone looks handsome,” Potvin said.
“We teach them the health and safety of going to a store and we also teach them a little welding. I have them in a sharpening machine, torches, plasma cutters. “
“I think we need marketers. It doesn’t matter who you are, who you are. If you’re interested, do it. Follow it. Ask questions, participate. I think it doesn’t matter who you are, who you are, your age doesn’t matter. “Go into the trades if you want to try it. If you have questions, come ask, find someone you know in the trades,” Potvin said.
“Sometimes they get a little nervous, it’s a hot metal, but we’re making them very comfortable, making sure there’s nothing to be afraid of and they’re great,” said Larry Nelson, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local. Union 800 welding and safety instructor and retired ADSB store teacher.
“They’re welding here, they’re cutting steel, they’re totally committed. It’s been a fantastic week so far.”
“We want to make sure they’re not afraid to go to tech courses when they get to high school. There’s currently a huge demand for specialized trades. I think we need to promote that for many years, so now is the time. to really move forward with that, ”Nelson said.
Students have been working on various projects such as making dog tags and Weiner toasters as an introduction to welding and working with metal.
“I enjoy working with children, helping them achieve things different from what they can normally do in their lives,” Nelson said.
Two other ADSB welding fields are for indigenous students, men and women.
One of them is currently housed at WC Eaket High School for students in Serpent River, Blind River and the surrounding area from July 4-8.
The second is hosted at Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 the week of July 11-15.
There is still room for enrollment for this particular camp for Indigenous students, men and women, said Steve Burmaster, route coordinator for the ADSB Co-op / Ontario Youth Learning Program.
Interested students can register by contacting the ADSB by email.