Hundreds of elementary students got to try their hand at the trades

The union office for the Alberta Roofing Contractors Association is an unlikely place for 10-year-olds.

Yet, on Tuesday, it roared with elementary school students, many of whom were putting rings on CVC pipes, welding vinyl pieces on a wooden floor, or simply playing with measuring tapes.

The interactive session was a collaboration between the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) and the Calgary Construction Association to expose students to a trade career at an early age.

“We always ask kids, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and we just want to give them an opportunity to see some of the different opportunities that are out there as they start to consider that question of what they might want to be,” said Steve Laberge, a supervisor in Learning Services, at CCSD.

“We don’t expect them to decide that today, but we just want to plant a seed and spark something that might be an interest to them, which one day might become a career pathway they want to pursue.”

The exhibition included 240 Calgary Catholic students from four schools, who were introduced to nine different skilled trades, including plumbing, roofing and carpentry. The school board held a smaller session at a school last year, but Laberge said the initiative is a first for the organization.

The collaboration between the construction association and school district dates back two years, when they connected students directly with industry professionals through hands-on activities and demonstrations.

“You ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up — in my time, they all said doctors, lawyers, engineers, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But we also need framers, we also need carpenters,” he said.

A recent housing boom and several energy-related announcements, including the recent MOU signed between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith, have further propelled demand for skilled trade workers.

Combined with the possibility of artificial intelligence making various professional jobs obsolete, Laberge said trades have been experiencing a renaissance.

“What’s so unique about this is that industry is coming to us, and they’re saying we want to be involved, saying, ‘What can we do for you as educators to ensure that students are aware that this is a viable career pathway?'” he added.

Jackie Scitthelm, director of workplace at the Calgary Construction Association, said elementary grades are the best stage to present the trades as a viable career.

“By the time they’re in grade 12, they’ve already kind of set their interests, and we’d like to show them some earlier,” said Scitthelm, whose 18-year-old son was connected to an apprenticeship in Grade 12.

“This would have been an awesome opportunity to know what he wanted to do and to have an understanding of education, how it relates to a career and what he’s moving forward,” she added.

Karen Ruthform, executive director of Alberta Roofing Contractors’ Association, said the initiative is meant to provide nuance about these careers not only to children but also to teachers.

“We recognize we have a really significant problem in the trades because everybody thinks they’re all the same,” she said. “In Alberta, we have 19 red seal trades involved in construction, and we always challenge teachers to name them.”

Jolene Mundt, a science consultant for Grades K to 6, said after the session that teachers will bring what they learned into the classroom and have them perform six activities, which include “creating an HVAC system with paper towel rolls and building a hardwood floor and creating a structure with popsicle sticks.”

Mundt said students won’t be graded on those assignments, but it will smooth their transition into targeted programs in junior high school.

“We’re working with (teachers) to help them because this is new to a lot of teachers, so we have a consultant going out to work with each of the teachers to make sure that all of these activities happen,” she added.

We really want to solidify the learning that they’ve got here today. This is a huge gift, and so we want them to go forward and practice what they’ve learned today in these different activities, and then be able to put all of their knowledge to use.”