Project Shop Class Delivers Cheques to Local High Schools
Prince George, B.C.- The Construction Foundation of BC (the charitable arm of the Construction Associations of BC) has distributed close to $50,000 to three highschools in Prince George and one in Dawson Creek through its Project Shop Class initiative.
“These funds are coming directly from industry, confirming their commitment to invest in the future our youth,” remarked Rosalind Thorn, President of the Prince George Construction Association. “This is the type of collaborative initiative between industry and the schools that we need in Northern BC in order to open up access to new opportunities for our local students”.
Cheques were presented to College Heights, Kelly Road, Prince George and Dawson Creek Secondary Schools at a special reception at Prince George Secondary.
Currently, only 1 in 32 BC high school graduates enter the trades and BC needs that number to be as high as 1 in 5 in order to address the estimated 30,500 skilled workers that BuildForce Canada estimates BC will be short by 2021.
Project Shop Class and the Construction Foundation of BC aims to encourage British Columbians to develop practical skills and to encourage students to pursue careers in the skilled trades.
“We have heard clearly from BC students, parents, teachers, and construction employers that something needs to be done to improve the training experience in high schools”, noted Abigail Fulton, Executive Director of the Foundation. “This initiative aligns perfectly with the Foundation’s commitment to increasing awareness of the opportunities in our sector and helping to train the journeypersons BC needs for tomorrow.”
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Comments
even though I went into a career on the opposite end of the spectrum from trades, I still remember the incredible sense of accomplishment I got from from woodwork and metalwork in high school. My parents still proudly display some of my projects and i’ve now gotten back into woodworking and still remember a lot of the skills taught to me decades ago. like music class, shop classes are invaluable for students of all stripes and I’m happy to see these donations. hopefully they go to some new machines, because I can still remember the lineups at the band saw and planer!
Glad to see the construction association investing into the future. Sad to see that our education system don’t have the resources to fund the new equipment.
Probably better to give direct funds than filter thru govt coffers….at least it all gets to the schools.
I did a stint as a sub shop class teacher a number of years ago and was disturbed at the disrepair of much of the equipment in those shops.
The government / big business trades agenda is being pushed on our kids everywhere these days.
Encouraging our children’s individual interests in any fields like science, medical, education, judicial, etc. is what we should be doing.
80% of us are working in jobs we don’t like just for the money, will our kids as well?
No way am I going to let a government and ditch digging industry dictate what my child’s future vocation will be!
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