May 15, 2023 (Campbell River, BC) – Skills Ready, the Construction Foundation of BC’s (CFBC) longest-running initiative, continues to make an impact on British Columbia classrooms and students participating in its workshops.
The most recent example of Skills Ready’s impact comes through Vancouver Island’s Campbell River community, where a copper bracelet-making workshop that was introduced in 2021 is now a workshop also run by district educators, with hopes of integrating it into the course curriculum on a more permanent basis moving forward.
“We want to use the copper bracelet workshops as a starting point to begin to explore the significance of copper in local communities both historically and currently,” said Gillian Kirke, School District 72 Indigenous Education Resource Coordinator, “they’re also an introduction to trades careers and applied design, science, and technology (ADST) learning.”
CFBC’s Shane Roy (Career Catalyst) and Rene Ragetli (Director of Project Operations) have travelled throughout the province to deliver Skills Ready’s copper bracelet and similar workshops to students, with hopes of inspiring BC’s next generation of trade professionals.
“The way that Shane and Rene come in and present, you can see the interest that our middle school students have,” added Kirke. “It’s really great to have these projects in middle school because students are about to choose their high school classes. We want them to connect their enjoyment and interest for these workshops to possible course and career options.”
Following in the footsteps of CFBC’s Indigenous Skills workshops in School District 72, the Skills Ready team have provided workshop education and support for educators interested in teaching the projects that have been introduced to them in a more independent fashion.
“Teachers in the district have been trained by the Skills Ready team so they can lead these workshops,” explained Kirke. “This allows us to apply for grants for the following year so we can continue to run future workshops in-school and have it become a part of what students do in grades six, seven and eight.”
For more information on the work being done by the Construction Foundation of BC and to donate, please visit www.constructionfoundation.ca.
