School of Trades offers Prairie Rose high school students the chance to jumpstart their careers
By Samantha Johnson,
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer
Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) started the School of Trades this year with Grade 10 students from Foremost, Senator Gershaw, Eagle Butte and South Central schools taking part. All students enrolled bus to Medicine Hat College (MHC) for introductory sessions into seven different trades. For South Central students, this means catching the bus at 6:45 a.m. and not returning to Oyen until 5 p.m. or later.
Alyssa Kulyk enjoys the hands-on learning she receives by being part of the School of Trades. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Dawn Peers, Principal of South Central High School, looks on while Dexter Miller, left, works on a project in the pipe fitting lab. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Torynn Ophein is impressed with the level of instruction they are receiving at Medicine Hat College and how much they can achieve in a single full day in each lab. SUBMITTED PHOTO
South Central High School has 11 students – 2 female and 9 male – taking part in the program with another 16 enrolled for next year. Although they have the longest commute, students feel it has been a valuable addition to their high school classes and are grateful for the chance to jumpstart their careers.
Alyssa Kulyk has always preferred working with her hands and finds sitting in a classroom a struggle. With many family members and friends having careers in various trades, along with growing up on a farm, Kulyk is aware of how much those working in the trades contribute.
“They are proud of me for getting into a group of people who are mostly men and not being afraid to get my opinion out there. Many of them say females pay more attention to detail,” stated Kulyk. “It’s been great to explore all the different trades and we’ve experienced things that are helpful. In heavy duty, we pulled apart a jack for a trailer. Two weeks earlier, the jack on our trailer broke and it would have been great to have the skill then, but it’s also good to know now so I can fix it in the future.”
Principal Dawn Peers, who accompanies the students to the college, is excited for this first cohort of students from South Central. “I have a bunch of boys of my own who have gone through trades programs and are loving their lives and careers. These kids are on the path to do that as well,” said Peers. “We don’t have the staff to provide a large range of options, we needed something like this because we don’t have that availability. They work with the same instructors my kids had when they went through trades and it’s great to see the female students taking part. There are some female instructors (at MHC) and it’s been amazing for them to see that as well.”
Dexter Miller wants to focus on both types of automotive training next year. “I am going to take over my dad’s farm. If I am a heavy-duty mechanic, I can fix my own equipment. It’s been good, when we go to the college, we learn what to do in each specific trade. So far, we’ve experienced welding, electrical, heavy-duty mechanic, and pipe fitting is this Friday.”
Torynn Ophein, who aims to become a welder, wanted “opportunities out of high school, it gives me a whole bunch of different trades I could do. It’s a lot more (training) than I thought we would get with everything we’ve been doing. I thought it would be more casual, but we are hands-on in the labs.”
In addition to the time spent at MHC, each school is also organizing field trips, such as to a welding shop or construction site, for students to experience different job sites. Next year will be a very different experience, with students choosing a cluster of two trades to focus on and spending four days in each of the two labs. Additionally, they will also have job shadowing opportunities and will be encouraged to find an apprenticeship position.
Sherry Craven, Student Experience Designer for the School of Trades, said, “they can build most of their apprenticeship hours between Grade 11 and 12 during the summer. We already have a couple of students who have placements and can start earning their hours this summer before Grade 11.”
There are different ways a student can approach the program to suit their goals and schedules. If they fast-track, a student can obtain their high school diploma and their year one certification in their chosen trade. “Trades are a four-year program,” explained Craven. “Students can come out with year one, making them highly employable and already gives them a bump in their wages.”
There is also flexibility to when a student can enter the School of Trades, it doesn’t have to be in Grade 10. “Just taking the introductory classes alone, they are learning many skills and it’s making them more employable. It is amazing what they can do in one day,” stated Craven. “To watch them at the beginning of a welding lab, students who’ve never held a welding torch before are making pieces of art by the end of one day, such as cool flowers out of bolts and bicycles with wheels that turn.”