NACI hoping to get more girls into apprenticeship program

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Published on Thursday, March 16, 2017

Katelyne Morton (Grade 11) along with mentor trainers Brent and Rob at This N That Manufacturing in Neepawa.

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Thanks to leadership and opportunity at Neepawa Area Collegiate Institute (NACI), young women in high school are being encouraged to joining traditionally male-dominated trades and industries.

Bob Lepischak, apprenticeship coordinator with NACI, says any student who is in good standing with all their credits completed to Grade 10 can register for seven Grade 11 and 12 courses, which must include a math, English, physical education and history class in both years and can then fill in their eight other slots with apprenticeship credits. He says he hopes to see more girls become interested in this education option as time goes on.

“I’ve had a number of girls in trades, but they’re often more conventional trades -- especially culinary arts. They do exceptionally well in it. As far as sort of these male-dominated trades go...I’m hoping that it will become an opportunity for young [women] to look at these nontraditional trades,” he explains. “Even if they make a career choice later that’s different, the experience in any trade augers well for a person just as a regular homeowner and citizen, because you can do things...any trade is good.”

NACI offers apprenticeship credits in a wide variety of trades, including agricultural equipment, bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, construction, electric, culinary arts, crane and hoisting operation, floor covering installation, heavy duty equipment mechanics, industrial mechanical millwrights and more. Students are able to do their apprenticeship credits through the summer or during the school year. And according to Lepischak, every time they do 110 hours of work, they get one credit, and after 220 hours, they get tuition for going to trade school, paid for by the provincial and federal government. Student apprentices are also paid minimum wage plus 10 per cent. The government banks almost $15/hour for the students, to a maximum of $12,800 if they work a minimum of 800 hours. The money is set aside for tuition for trades school. The students are also paid a per diem stipend for having to live in a city or are able to have 90 per cent of their travel expenses covered.

“The opportunities are certainly there,” Lepischak acknowledges. “The nice thing about it is that if [a student] makes the decision that they’re not going to go to college or university -- which a lot of people make at a fairly young age...they say ‘I just don’t want to go to school, I want to work with my hands’ -- the trades certainly gives an opportunity for people to do that...Some people are really good at academics, and I would never discourage a student from going the academic route. But if they have skills and they don’t want to continue on the academic side, they can work, earn money and have their academic sessions in 10 week periods, and then move onto another level until they become Red Seal certified.”

Lepischak says that now, more than ever, the time is right for women to step up and into trades careers.

“I think the media has had a large impact, because some of the girls have said they watch the home improvement network and they see women in trades where they’re doing construction and planning and renovating and I think that’s probably increased their awareness. But then I also just think girls find that they have the ability to do things they want to do,” he notes. “It’s sort of seeing a path that you’re happy with...it’s sort of following your dreams -- and if you have a skill, if you have an inert skill, it’s great to follow up on that.”

One young woman who certainly did follow up on her dreams and skills is Katelyne Morton, a Grade 11 student at NACI who has been interested in carpentry since she was eight years old.

“My dad passed away when I was four, but he was a carpenter...so it’s a way to know him better and I like that idea of building things -- I kind of wanted to be like him,” Morton reflects. 

When she was 10, Morton says, she heard people at the school talking about apprenticeship courses and knew she wanted to give carpentry a try.

“I thought that was pretty cool,” she remembers. “I wanted to get into one of those [courses]...I think it was in Grade 10 that I started applying for different things and seeing what I could do with it.”

Now, Morton attends school at NACI while also apprenticing at This n’ That Manufacturing, where she assembles cabinets. 

“I like it,” she enthuses. “I like all the machines, I like learning about things and just...knowing that I’m capable of doing it.”

It’s a satisfying feeling, Morton says, when she learns about something in math class and can relate to it in a practical way because she’s experienced it in the field. 

“I really like hands on learning,” she explains. “I’m starting to learn that way, too, and outside of school -- I learn there, too.”

Morton says she’s happy that NACI lets students know what their options are for a multitude of different careers, and encourages other girls to look into trades as well.

Grade 12 student Michelle Pottinger is working at This N That Manufacturing to complete her apprenticeship credits.

Pottinger says she first became interested in trades about a year ago, and was happy with the reaction she got from the people around her, including friends, family and teachers.

“Many of them seemed surprised at first, but then seemed interested or impressed once I started to tell them about it,” she recollects. “The trades are definitely male dominated, but that doesn’t mean women can’t get involved. These are valuable skills that will help you for the rest of your life, so why not try something new?”

Pottinger plans to work through the summer and then pursue a degree in agriculture. She dreams of one day living in a home that she had a hand in building. Trades, she says, is a great way to go about having a successful, satisfying career.

“It’s a great experience that not many people get. Even if you choose not to go forward in your trade, the skills will always be useful.”