Students show off Capstone projects
Ben Kinee’s dream job when after he graduates high school is to be an undersea welder.
He’s well-equipped for the job. He has no fear of working in confined spaces and he’s already quite adept at using a welding rod to bond metal into useable objects - like the two pieces of intricate art he brought to Duchess Park gym last week for his Capstone project display.
One of them is a banjo player made out of steel bolt, sitting on a stump plucking the strings while under the shade of a metal tree. The other is a cowboy with hat in hand hanging on for dear life on the back of bucking steer, all made out of horseshoe nails.
“My plan is to go to college to get my Red Seal (certification) and I’m thinking about doing something with deep-sea welding,” said Kinee. “I’m not claustrophobic and I’m good with tight spaces, that’s something I can do.”
Kinee’s mom owns a septic service company and at early age he showed an interest in helping out in the truck repair shop. He’s got one project on the go to rebuild the rear end of a Kenworth truck. He started experimenting with the welder at the shop a few years ago and found he had a knack for it. Kinee attended a career day last year to the College of New Caledonia and surprised the instructor when he welded together a three-inch six-sided dice, complete with the holes on each side.
“It was kind of funny, they were trying to teach me to weld and I’m like, ‘Just give me the welder already, I’ll do it,” said Kinee. “Welding is so satisfying. Once I stop welding and go home for the day I just want to go back to work.”
Kinee will start working on his welding and fabrication practicum at CNC in February as soon as he gets back from a trip to Mexico and will be working as an apprentice in the summer. He’s also considering applying for the military to further his career ambition.
“My dream job is to be under the water deep-sea welding for $2,000 a day and then go sit on the beach for the rest of the day and fly home a week later, that’s one life I would not mind,” he said.
The Capstone Celebration project is a new requirement for all Grade 12 students in the province. Similar to a science fair, it encourages students to bring their interests, community connections and career learning ambitions to life through visual displays.
Emily Mann’s Capstone display included a couple of open bags of candy imported from England which she shared with visitors to her spot in the gym. A member of the Duchess Park debate club, Mann is an aspiring lawyer who eventually hopes to apply for dual citizenship and move to Wales, where she has family ties.
Mann wants to continue her education at UBC to complete an undergraduate degree in history and political science before she tackles law school. She earns top marks in her subjects and is on the Principal’s List. She’s also fluent in French, having been through the French immersion program since kindergarten. As part of the leadership program at Duchess Park she plans to put her language skills to work next month.
“We’re actually trying to organize a carnival day here to bring out the French culture of the school,” said Mann.
Owen MacDonald has always been athletic as a basketball player, cross country and track and field runner and speed skater. He’ll need to be in tip-top shape to realize his career ambition to become a firefighter. MacDonald spent two months as a volunteer with Prince George Fire Rescue work experience program, working alongside the fire crews on afternoons, evenings and weekends and that was all took to convince him he wanted that as his full-time job.
“All the guys there were such great role models, just top-notch guys, and they actually showed me what a day in the life of a firefighter is actually like,” said MacDonald. “I was right there in the truck. I loved it.”
His Capstone display showed pictures of MacDonald in his firefighting gear and highlighted some of his achievements in sports. The former captain of the Condors junior A basketball team was the MVP of Duchess Park’s winning team at the zone cross country championships in Dawson Creek.
MacDonald is enrolled in the B.C. Forest Service’s junior initial attack forest firefighting program and was getting ready for a four-hour fitness test Monday at the P.G. Dome that will have him lugging 60-pound weights on his back running up and down ramps. He says he’ll pick up a trade at CNC before he heads to the College of the Rockies in Kimberley for the five-month fire academy program.
Right next to MacDonald, Sofya Toyata’s violin was the centerpiece of her display. She’s not sure of her career path just yet, so for her Capstone she focused on her passion for music as a violinist and in the choir with the Tapestry Singers.
“I’ve been playing violin since Grade 4,” Toyata said. “I enjoy classical and I enjoy playing in symphonies, as a hobby. I don’t think that would be my actual career. I have no idea about my career anything but medical. I’m fine with blood but I don’t like the pressure of trying to keep people alive.”
Aspiring registered nurse Sydney Garrison is totally OK with that. She’s grown up trying to emulate her mom, a licenced practical nurse. That means four years of school – two years at college and two of university/practicum work at the hospital.
“She loves her job and helping people and that’s why I want to do it. I just want to help people too,” said Garrison. “It’s hard but you’re kind of saving people’s lives. I really want to do that.”
Keagan Fraser no longer competes as a freestyle skier but he sure loves teaching it. Although his competitive career was cut short by knee injuries that hasn’t hindered his ability to teach other athletes he sees at Hart Highlands Ski Hill and Troll Mountain near Quesnel the ins and outs of aerials, moguls and slopestyle. He also coaches mountain bikers at Otway Nordic Centre.
While he was receiving treatment for his injuries, watching physiotherapists work their magic to heal his sports-related wounds, Fraser hit upon the idea of getting into medical science for his own career.
So he sent his straight-A report card to UNBC and was accepted in the biomedical program for next fall. After the first year, he expects to branch out into UNBC’s new physiotherapy program which has its first intake of students in September.
“We’re really short of physiotherapists in the north and that’s where I want to stay,” said Fraser. “Grades are obviously really important. I was not always the strongest student in school, so I think because of that it really instilled a good work ethic. I like to work hard and I think that will help in university.”