Nailed it: Fredericton high school encouraging students to train in trades
Some students at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton are working on building their futures in the trades.
A lot of industries are desperate for workers and skilled trades are in high demand.
"I'm more of a hands-on kind of guy,” said Grade 11 student Tyson Foster. “I don't really like sitting in the classroom and it gives me free range of what I'd like to do with my future.”
The students say they learn more than just the labour skills.
“I think communication is really the biggest one” Nate St-Pierre said. “Instead of just working on homework or working on sheets, you're putting the teamwork together.”
Leading up to the holidays, they've been putting those skills to use building decorative Christmas trees.
Instructors say the skills they're learning here held build the foundation for many fields.
"Supplying people that can actually think and develop skills that can actually lead to a really fruitful career in skilled trades or some adjacent field,” said Joell Gallant, a skill trades instructor at Leo Hayes. “Or we end up equipping them with some good home maintenance skills.”
Three classes of 20 students are learning a wide range of skills. But the instructors are hoping to see a wider range of people in class.
"If you can't see it then you can't be it,” Gallant said. “So when more Grade 9 and 10 students see Grade 11 and 12 students that look just like them taking this course, then they think that's something I can do, too.”
Gallant hopes to see more diversification in tradespeople.
"One of my professional goals for the last year-and-a-half has been to increase the amount of people who identify other than male taking our courses,” Gallant said. “So we were at zero out of 20 and now we're at two out of 20, which is not a lot but it's trending in the right direction.”
With industry in need of workers, they’re hoping trades become their students’ first choice of career.
"We also really try to wipe out the stereotype that if you can't do anything else, you go into the trades,” said Shane Hoyt the skilled trades department head at Leo Hayes. “We work very hard in that the trades are a great career they're challenging and once you get involved you see all the opportunities.”
Some students are already planning their futures.
"I want to go in the trades, I think the power line trades,” St-Pierre said.
"I'm not one of those people who want to sit in an office and type on a keyboard,” Foster said.
Items made and sold by the students put cash right back in the program's fund for supplies.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
BREAKING Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they've changed their name
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Trial begins for Winnipeg serial killer who claims he was mentally ill
The trial of a man who admits he killed four women in Winnipeg is set to begin Wednesday, and a law professor says lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki have multiple hurdles to clear for a defence of mental illness.
These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
New Canadian study could be a lifesaver for thousands suffering from CTE
A first-of-its-kind Canadian research study is working towards a major medical breakthrough for a brain disorder, believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, that can only be detected after death.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.