By Michael Gams
Morning sun lights up the dusty classroom and the smell of lumber wafts from the corner where a student cuts a wooden letter with his jigsaw.
Other students work diligently to complete theirs and as soon as the letters are finished, they will be assembled in a large sign reading, “Glebe cabinet making.”
This month, Glebe Collegiate Institute introduced a new cabinet-making program as part of a provincially funded pilot project to encourage more young people to learn about skilled trades.
Carolin Castrucci, vice-president of administration at Laurysen Kitchens, a professional cabinet-making company, gave the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board advice on what the trades industry is looking for.
“We need to get young and energetic students in carpentry and trades,” she says. “We face a huge problem right now. Because so many people retire there is a big need for new workforces.
“We have to get people interested in working with their hands, as opposed to becoming a computer programmer or arts student. There is a lot of money to be made, because there is such a huge demand.”
The $35,000 program is unique in Ottawa and expands the school’s house-building course started last year, in which 16 students spent a term framing and renovating a house.
For the students, the program is a win-win situation, says Glebe vice-principal Peter Campbell.
“The neat thing is they can double-credit their work,” he says.
Students can fill in their elective credits with the cabinet-making course, which will enable them to take apprenticeships in the trades industry.
The shop class fills one full semester and students make up their other credits, like math and science, in the following term.
The school board offered the program to Glebe Collegiate because it already employed a tech teacher with cabinet-making experience.
“I guess I was in the right place at the right time,” says Ian Hobson, one of the two teachers in the program.
Hobson, trained in fine arts and cabinet making, shows the 12 students in the class how to work with planers, band saws, chop saws, drill presses and other tools. The first few weeks is all about making students aware of the dangers in a shop and how to safely operate the tools, he says.
“When the tools are on, injuries can happen, so we are really working on developing a good head space,” Hobson says. “The model that I am using is, ‘Don’t work hard, work smart.’ Forget about the argument with your mom or your girlfriend last night.”
In addition to working on the cabinets, the students spend one hour per day with another teacher learning AutoSketch, a drawing software, which may provide a leg-up in the industry.
The program at Glebe Collegiate is open to students from all high schools, but they must be at least 16 years old and meet some other prerequisites, such as a certain number of school credits and good behaviour.
“They have nothing like that at Lisgar, there it is more about textbook knowledge,” says Raven Sutherland, 16, one of the cabinet-making students who usually studies at Lisgar Collegiate. Most of the students take the course very seriously, their motivation ranging from relatives working in the trades industry, to money, to simply gaining experience.
“I think it is a good industry to get into when I am older. I need the experience now, not later,” Alex Black, 16, says.
“I think my chances to get an apprenticeship or job are pretty good, because more and more people are retiring now.”
In the future, Glebe does not want to rely on government funding and aims to make the cabinet-making program self-sufficient by building cabinets for other schools or private homes, says teacher Hobson. The school is also hoping to raise funds for tool upgrades.
“We want to be able to promise the kids that there is a future for them, they have to see that it is a worthwhile path,” says vice-principal Campbell.