Middle-school students test trade skills in the Fraser Valley

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CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – Step right up!

That’s what 1,200 grade 7-9 Fraser Valley students were encouraged to do Thursday at the University of the Fraser Valley for  Try a Trades Day.

It was all to get the kids to try their hands using different equipment and consider choosing a trade when the time comes.

Why wouldn’t you give a child an air-gun? Don’t worry, all of the kids were supervised and Rolf Arnold, the Associate Dean of Trades says they were all encouraged to try different things, “to wet their appetite and hopefully create a spark of some kind of interest for folks to pursue and maybe motivate them to look towards a career in a skilled trade.”

“This lines up nicely with the blueprint for jobs initiative the government has done and should provide us with lots of opportunities in the career areas, so we hope that this motivates some of these young folks,” adds Arnold.

Students had a chance to try many trades in hands-on demonstrations including:

  • Welding
  • Riveting
  • Auto-body airbrushing
  • Hairstyling and esthetics
  • Carpentry
  • Pipe fitting
  • using excavating equipment

 

There were also 54 regional Skills BC competitors also participating in trade and tech tests, all trying to win a spot in the BC Skills Competition in April.

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