As part of a push to encourage youth to pursue careers in skilled trades, the Algoma District School Board is holding Mind Over Metal welding camps for students ages 12 to 15 in Sault Ste. Marie and Blind River this week and next.
The camps are held with funding from the CWB Welding Foundation and Tenaris with the support of the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 store at 165 Northern Avenue East.
Camps are for students who have completed 8th grade and are entering 9th grade in the fall.
Welding seems to have sparked interest among students attending the program.
“I originally chose business for 9th grade, but now that I’m in this grade I’ve decided to change that. I will call the school and change it. I really think this could be a career I’m trying to pursue,” said Peyton King, who recently graduated from North Heights Public School and will be entering the 9th grade at Superior Heights in September.
“I definitely like welding, but I’d also like to study architecture or carpentry.”
King described what draws her to the professions, especially welding.
“The way I can fine-tune everything I do, working by hand, and with the noises and sounds of the welding, I can always tell where I can fix things and how it should sound, so it’s really nice for me to understand and I know where and how I can fix things,” King said.
“I’ve always been interested, but now it’s really woken up.”
“It feels really good,” said Samantha Newman, a Korah College graduate who was just assigned to an apprenticeship.
“I just started doing it in high school, in a couple of classes, and industry was my favorite subject. It’s enjoyable. We made trailer hitch covers, some made fire pits. Wherever I can get a job is where I’ll go,” Newman said.
Emily Potvin is a third-year apprentice plumber with Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 with an eye toward becoming a pipe fitter.
“I was going on business. I was ready to take over a business and I didn’t like not being around tools anymore, so I went back to school. I did a pre-trade through the Ontario government and from there applied to a few different stores. I was looking at becoming a miller, but I got in here and haven’t looked back since.”
“I like it,” Potvin said.
“I do something different every day. You learn how to do something in 10 different ways and choose the one that suits you. The work, the camaraderie, the teamwork… I work with a welder all the time so you become good friends and you can build something from scratch or rebuild it. It’s great to be a part of something.”
Skilled trading is profitable.
“Can’t complain about the pay,” smiled Potvin.
“It’s worth every cent I make. I love my job.”
There is an additional particular focus among educators on encouraging women to enter skilled trades.
“It’s very unusual (women in professions), which is very strange to me. There could be a lot of abuse and maybe that’s why, but I think anyone can be in trading no matter what. It was so much fun. I thought I would be tired and that it would be just like school, but it’s not like school. I have to be here and I’m actually working instead of sitting at a desk, but I’m very attentive, which is nice,” King said.
“We have eight girls right now and they all look good,” Potvin said.
“We teach them health and safety that goes on in a shop and we also teach them a bit of welding. I have them in thread machine, torches, plasma cutters.’
“I think we need traders. It doesn’t matter what you are, who you are. If you’re interested, go for it. Follow it. Ask questions, engage with it. I don’t think it matters what you are, who you are, your age doesn’t matter. Get into trading if you want to try it out. If you have questions, come ask, find someone you know in the trades,” Potvin said.
“Sometimes they find they’re a little nervous, it’s a hot metal, but we make them really comfortable, making sure they’re not afraid of anything and that they excel,” said Larry Nelson, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local. Union 800 welding and safety instructor and retired ADSB shop teacher.
“They’re welding here, cutting steel, they’re fully involved. It’s been a great week so far.”
“We want to make sure they’re not afraid to take technology classes when they get to high school. There is a huge demand for skilled professionals these days. I think we’ve missed promoting it for many years, so now is the time to really move forward with it,” Nelson said.
Students have worked on various projects such as making dog tags and a Weiner roaster as an introduction to welding and metal working.
“I love working with kids, helping them achieve different things than they might normally do in their lives,” Nelson said.
Two other ADSB welding camps are for male and female Indigenous students.
One of these is currently being hosted at WC Eaket Secondary School for students from Serpent River, Blind River and the surrounding area from July 4-8.
The second is hosted at Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 800 the week of July 11-15.
There is still room to register for this camp for both male and female Indigenous students, said Steve Burmaster, Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program Coordinator at the ADSB Co-op/Ontario program.
Interested students can register by contacting ADSB via email.
