Cariboo youth experienced welding first-hand during a four-day camp held at Thompson Rivers University Williams Lake campus July 21 to 24.
Funded by the Canadian Welding Bureau (CBW) and BC Energy Regulator, the camp - titled Arx and Sparx - had 15 students led by Tyler Baba, welding instructor at TRU Williams Lake with help from three of his students who finished their foundations program the week before.
鈥淚t was great working with all of your kids,鈥� Baba told parents during a barbecue on the last day.
Pointing to rocket stoves sitting on the shop floor that the students made, Baba said 鈥渢hey did an amazing job as you can see by the pieces they put together.鈥�
Baba said his Foundations student helped with safety and tutoring for the camp and the camp participants did everything from scratch.
鈥淭hey pretty well did all their own cuts, all their own grinding. They did it pretty well as much on their own as possible and did a great job.鈥�
Lena Sheppard from Williams Lake was one of the helpers who completed her Level 1 and 2 Foundation program about two months early and graduated from high school this year.
鈥淚t was different to be on the other side,鈥� she said of helping with the camp, which she enroled in two years ago.
鈥淚t was a good change of perspective and a good learning experience.鈥�
She has been working at Lakecity Ford but will soon be doing a three-month internship at Gibraltar Mine.
Dwayne Geiger, partnership trades coordinator in TRU鈥檚 school of trades and technology, coordinated the program.
He thanked the parents during the barbecue.
鈥淭he kids were fantastic, we had no issues at all, so thank you for being great parents and supporting your kids and coming today,鈥� Geiger said. 鈥淭hese types of programs are good. Sometimes they resonate with the kids and they go into a trades program, but sometimes it doesn鈥檛 and that鈥檚 OK.鈥�
Several of the students shared a bit about their experience including Chael Williams who will be going into Grade 10 and lives in Anahim Lake, 319 km west of Williams Lake.
鈥淚 liked it,鈥� he said of the camp, adding it was the first time he ever used welding equipment.
Breanna Humm-Telfer, a Williams Lake student going into Grade 9, also enjoyed herself.
鈥淚t was really fun to learn great skills and meet some great people. I had not really done anything with machinery before," said Breanna.
Olivia Manseau, who is going into Grade 11 and is from Williams Lake, said she had fun as well.
鈥淯sing a torch and some new tools and learning new tricks on a welder and grinder were fun,鈥� she said, explaining she had already done some welding in high school.
Grade 8 student Kisho Baba said he had not worked with welding equipment prior to the camp.
He liked the camp and said he learned there are a lot of things you can do with welding.
Cavyn Freeman from Bridge Lake said welding was not new to him but he had fun making his rocket stove.
鈥淚 also got to learn how to make roses for my stove,鈥� he said, smiling.
Emma Priestner, a technical education specialist for Western Canada with the CBW travelled from Lethbridge, Alta. to attend the program on Wednesday and Thursday to interact with the students.
鈥淥ur welding foundation strives to create opportunities for youth to learn about welding,鈥� Priestner said, adding CBW is happy to partner with TRU and loves to help bring the camps to the community.
鈥淭hanks for being amazing participants," she told the students.
Kate Hewitt, British Columbia Energy Regulator's Director of First Nations Relations said the program is more than just welding lesson.
鈥淚t also teaches students the value of hard work, perseverance, and commitment," Hewitt noted in an emailed response. "The program encourages students to think ahead and plan for their future, while also giving them the necessary skills to excel in the industry. We鈥檙e proud to support the Mind over Metal camp and hope these students continue to build upon their success and use the skills they have learned to make a lasting impact in the industry.鈥�
Geiger encouraged any of the students who are interested in applying to do the ACE IT program - the technical training component of industry training programs for high school students - to do so sooner than later.
"I'm already working on 2027, 2028 in different districts," Geiger said.
