Regina-area students learn about building successful trades careers
Hands-on experience and classroom lessons provide look at construction
Students from Regina and area high schools learned the bricks and mortar of building a career in the trades on Tuesday.
Dozens of young people attended the city’s first Think Construction, where they got hands-on experience and classroom lessons on what it’s like to work in a trade.
“Because they’re engaged the whole time, they remember and they walk away from the experience with the information they need to make good decisions moving forward,” said Gordon Heidel, executive director of the Regina District Industry Education Council, which hosted the event.
In different rooms at the Regina Trades & Skills Centre, students were getting exposure and lessons in different trades. In one, they were taught masonry fundamentals as they built a wall. In another, students were all hammers and nails constructing a shed.
Heidel has been in the trades industry for several decades and now focuses on giving students the tools needed to make informed decisions about their future.
“Nobody ever talked to me about apprenticeship, nobody ever explained the process, nobody ever talked to me about what’s involved in the journey status,” he said. “There are still a lot of kids who don’t understand what it’s all about.”
Connor Bringedahl, a Grade 12 student at Balgonie’s Greenall High School, took a break from building a shed to explain why he came to Think Construction.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for the future. I’m about to graduate soon,” he said. “I was like, ‘Hey, if I come here it might help me get a better look at things.’”
He was right. Bringedahl has taken construction classes at his school, but is now more confident in deciding what his future will hold.
“I’ve always thought of carpentry, so I’m liking this,” he said. “I’m really narrowing it down to carpentry.”
With a downturn in the economy, there could be a case to be made for students to avoid the trades. Heidel doesn’t think that should be the case.
“The opportunities are still there, we still have some huge, huge projects going on in Regina,” he said.
“The smartest companies in the world build during those slow times, because they know it’s going to get busier.”
Dorian Fortier, a project manager with Graham Construction, said his company is interested in getting young people right out of high school interested in the industry.
“As of right now, I believe there is a gap in the industry for some of our old guys retiring and our young guys coming in,” he said.
Bringedahl said he thinks a little bit about the economy when considering his future, but he said he just has to see what happens.