Trading Places: New $7.4-million North Kamloops Secondary Trades and Technology Centre offers introduction to apprenticeship programs

By Melanie Franner

With the potential of many large-scale construction projects looming on the horizon, the government and educational system of British Columbia is stepping up to the plate to ensure that there will be workers aplenty if and when they’re needed.

The announcement of the new $7.4-million North Kamloops (NorKam) Secondary Trades and Technology Centre is but one example of this “Building B.C.” movement – but it is a significant one in that it will accelerate students’ transition to the workforce by exposing them to the trades before their highschool graduation.

“This is a major project for our school district and for students within our region who want to explore the trades as a career,” states Sheryl Lindquist, district principal, Secondary Transitions, School District No. 73. “This initiative has been 10 years in the making.”

BROAD AppEAl

The new centre is being made possible through funding from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and the KamloopsThompson Board of Education.

“The programs will be open to students in grades 10, 11 and 12 throughout the entire school district,” notes Lindquist, who adds that this is close to 4,000 students in total.

The 19,000-square-foot, one-storey centre will be a renovation/addition project to the existing NorKam Secondary School. Once completed, the newly designed centre will offer four skilled training shops with specialized equipment and two lecture areas. It will increase NorKam’s previous trades training capacity by approximately 120 students, while significantly expanding the offerings.

“We’re noticing that a lot of students don’t even know what types of jobs are available in the trades,” states Lindquist. “This will be a great opportunity for them to familiarize themselves before making a serious commitment. At the same time, it will still count as credits toward attaining their high school diplomas.”

ExpAnDED OFFERIng

Although the NorKam Secondary School has been offering their students some skills training for the past few years through a partnership agreement with the Thompson Rivers University, this newly expanded centre will broaden the offering and will provide it right on-site.

As such, the new centre will offer skills training programs in mining exploration, development and production; entrylevel industrial skills; construction trades training; refrigeration and air conditioning; and civil engineering technology.

“Eventually, we will offer five ‘samplers’,” states Lindquist. “Each of the sampler programs will consist of a total of 480 hours and will represent 16 credits toward a student’s high school diploma.”

The first two samplers available in February 2015 will be construction (which will cover carpentry, plumbing, electrical and industrial instrumentation mechanical) and mechanical (which will cover heavy-duty mechanical, auto-service technician, motorcycle and small motor and welding).

Other samplers to be made available at a later date include commercial driver training, engineering and mining technology.

“The student reaction to date has been overwhelming,” says Lindquist. “We are over-subscribed in our first two samplers.”

nEW TRAInIng FACIlITy In ThE MAkIng

“We had to demolish the existing music room so we could build the addition,” states Erik Thistlethwaite, project superintendent, Delnor Construction Ltd., who adds that there was a lot of site preparation required on the project.

The addition itself consists of two classrooms, an entrance lobby, new music room (to replace the one that needed to be torn down) and the four trades shops (two of which are approximately 2,400 square feet, one of which is 3,000 square feet and the other, which is 2,100 square feet).

“This is our first construction project since 2001 so we’re very excited about it,” states Art McDonald, director of Facilities and Transportation, School Dis-

trict No. 73. “There has been a bit of difficulty in finding some of the services, like the piping, that have been buried for the last 50 years; but other than that, the project has gone very smoothly.”

MQN Architects in Vernon was the firm responsible for the design of the new centre.

“The idea was to have a modern look and to try to get the community involved,” explains Vicki Topping, partner, MQN Architects. “We wanted to make it an inviting and open space so we designed a beautiful, two-storey glass entrance to the building. We also used a lot of wood and heavy timber inside, with exposed cedar ceilings in the corridors.”

The shops themselves, adds Topping, needed to be flexible in design and utilitarian.

All In A DAy’S WORk

The actual construction on the new centre required the skills of several experienced local companies. Sunco Drywall Ltd. was responsible for all of the steel stud, drywall, T-bar and insulation required for the job.

“We had between four to 10 crew onsite for close to four months,” explains Jamie Low, project manager. “We’ve done a lot of schools and hospitals over the years, so we were pretty familiar with this type of construction project.”

For Anvil Ironworks Ltd., the NorKam Secondary Trades and Technology Centre equated to about 120,000 pounds of structural steel.

Kelly Anderson, project manager, says that the size of the crew was, at times, upwards of six. “It’s always nice to get a job in Kamloops because we’re a Kamloopsbased company ourselves. This was a typical project for us in that we have a lot of experience with schools. We just finished one in the area prior to this job.”

gEARIng up FOR A nEW START

When the keys to the NorKam Secondary Trades and Technology Centre were transferred to School District No. 73 this fall, it marked a new phase in the history of the senior secondary school. And it will mark a new beginning for the region’s students, who will all have the opportunity to “test the waters” of various trades before committing to them as a full-time career.

“This investment is about providing more opportunities for skilled trades and also about attracting students to the beautiful North Shore,” states Denise Harper, chair, Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education. “The board of education is pleased that the renovations to North Kamloops Secondary campus will allow the district to offer our students the chance to experience various careers in trades and technology. We hope that through the opportunity to pursue an interest in the trades, our students will graduate with clear career goals.”

And for those students who opt to continue with their studies by pursuing a career in trades, there will be plenty of opportunities to await them as B.C.’s economy continues to grow at an impressive rate. b

Previously published in the 2014 SICA Construction Review as produced by DEL Communications Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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