School District #27 (SD27) recently awarded $1,000 scholarships to two, separate Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School grads from 2016 (last year) who have put in an amazing amount of work towards a career in trades – but not in the way you might expect.
These students, Jake Bauer and Bernd Hedtfeld, were two South Cariboo students among just four 2016 graduates across SD27 who completed the Youth Work in Trades program to receive their award this year.
Dave Corbett, SD27 career programs co-ordinator, explains the Youth Work in Trades (YWT) program is for students in school, ages 15 -19, who are working in a paid, part-time position, or through summers, and are considering a career in the trades. He says Bauer and Hedtfeld not only earned themselves these scholarships, but also qualified for the other trades program offered in SD27, called the Youth Training in Trades program (YTT) – which not only “fits perfectly” with the trades chosen by these boys but SD27 even paid for it.
Their first level of training, Bauer as a welder and Hedtfeld as a carpenter, was paid for by the school district and was done during their Grade 12 year, Corbett explains.
Students not only acquire valuable experience working under the supervision of a qualified trades person, but also gain experience and credit for their hours worked at school – basically “earn while they learn”, he explains.
This enables youth working in trades, whether at one or two businesses, to gain hours toward their apprenticeship they’d otherwise have to wait with until graduation and a post-secondary trades program if they can find one.
“There are two parts to the completion of the student YWT program. One part is the school component, which is the log book exercises that they do every 120 hours, up to 480. For each 120 logged, they get one credit for one high school electives course for that work [up to four high school credits].”
Corbett says that’s the “perk” in the school program completion – the students can begin as young as 15, in Grade 10, and earn hours toward their apprentice certification when they are an adult.
“Jake [Bauer] had started his job before he got into this training program, so by the time he finished, he had all the hours he needed for his first level.”
Bauer has worked these long hours part-time at Cariboo Fabricating for more than three years now, where owner David Bleeker says the program is working out quite well since it started two years ago.
As a welding trainee/employee skills, Bauer is at the point where “he is learning, he is getting there, and one day he’ll be something [in the field],” Bleeker adds.
Bauer says the apprenticeship and credits program is “awesome, I love it” and he is confident in his future in welding.
“I think it will help me out a lot,” he says, adding he believes in pursuing a trades career for (dedicated people) who wish to stay in the Cariboo.
Corbett says both Bauer and Hedtfeld are “focused young men” who had a plan for their future in trades which he looks for in his program applicants, as it helps them start building that plan and get them as far as they can while they are still high school students.
The second part, for students who graduate after successful completion of the program, is their whopping 900 hours of work experience – before the end of the calendar year of their graduation – they will receive the $1,000 award, he explains.
“1,500 [hours] is necessary for each apprenticeship level, so it’s not a full level, but it is over halfway,” to their level 1 says Corbett.
Then they can go to their next Level 2, Level 3, or whatever they wish to work towards by adding 1,500 more work hours to a total of 6,000 hours to be at a full journeymen level, if they so desire.
That is the “nice thing in B.C.,” adult apprentices can register each 1,500 hours of related trade work every year to get registered at their first level of training, and then move on to become a level 2, 3 and 4-registered trades person.
While the calculations for trade work hours last year’s grads gave them up until December, Corbett says they always take until the end of May for awards to be announced with the current year grad’s scholarship.
Hedtfeld and his employer, Omega Contracting, were unavailable for comment at press time.
Students interested in more information about the Youth Work in Trades and/or Youth Train in Trades programs are encouraged to contact the Career Centre at their school, or Dave Corbett at 1-250-398-3823.