Mind Over Metal welding camp—CWB Welding Foundation summer camp offers unique experience for girls
The Saskatchewan Polytechnic Women in Trades and Technology (WITT) program has partnered with the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Welding Foundation to host a Mind Over Metal welding summer camp for girls in grades 9-12.
The week-long camp was hosted at Sask. Polytech campuses across the province. Mind Over Metal camps were developed by the CWB Welding Foundation to introduce youth to the exciting career opportunities available in welding.
The camps focused on female youth to provide the young women with a safe learning environment to try welding; something they may never have considered. Participants got to learn about welding safety, gas metal arc welding, oxy/ acetylene welding as well as sheet metal work.
The camp is one of 84 Mind Over Metal camps across Canada in 2018-19, with many camps focusing on at risk youth, Indigenous people, women and newcomers to Canada. The camps are designed to dispel myths around females pursing trades careers.
“These camps are specifically designed to provide youth with a hands-on introduction to welding and inspire them to pursue a career in welding. They are also making lasting memories and building confidence while being supervised by professionals in a safe environment,” said Deborah Mates, executive director, CWB Welding Foundation. “The CWB’s Mind Over Metal camp allows girls to build self-awareness and confidence while working with active female tradeswomen,” says Jessica Baldwin, provincial facilitator and coordinator for WITT at Sask. Polytech. “Participants learn that the welding industry has a variety of career pathways that can take you virtually anywhere in the world.”
One of the instructors for the camp at the Moose Jaw campus, Reinhard Lehne said this was an important workshop for the girls to be part of. “This is the first camp of this kind we’ve ever put on in Moose Jaw. It’s a camp for girls to experience welding, maybe for the first time and see if this is something they’d want to look forward to in a career. I think this was really important for them to come and experience this career and learn from those of us in the industry. We had an awesome time in the camp and s the week went on and we did more complicated projects, I discovered how enthusiastic the girls were to learn.” One of the students, Emily Soderstron said she enjoyed learning about the trade. “It was very exciting to be part of the camp and have these new experiences. I’d love to become a welder. I’m excited to learn more about the field.”
The CWB Welding Foundation is a national registered charity that supports the Canadian welding industry by increasing public safety awareness in welding and addressing the welding skilled trade shortage and mismatch in Canada.