Eagle River Secondary Grade 11 and 12 students will have a convenient opportunity to try out different trades in the coming school year.
The school has been selected as the site of another Okanagan College Gateway program, giving School District #83 students a chance to try out things like carpentry, welding, electrical, plumbing and more.
“The kids can take this course and then decide which course they want to elaborate on,” explains school district career supervisor Mark Marino. “So if you’re really passionate about carpentry after doing the activities you’re addressing in the course, then you can go and take the six-month house instruction course.
“This gives kids a little bit of a taste before they decide to take the full meal deal. I kind of compare it to a smorg, you can try a little bit of everything so that you’re able to go and just chow down on what you want later on.”
This 12-week program is taught by an Okanagan College instructor, and will run from Jan. 30 to May 5. It is open to all students in the school district, and worth 12 credits.
Marino notes those who complete the tuition-free program can go on to take a tuition-free foundations course.
“We have high school-aged kids doing welding in Vernon, we have a group of 16 hairdressers in Armstrong, we have a class full of automobile service tech mechanics, we have cooks doing Professional Cook 1, we have a couple of kids at TRU doing heavy-duty mechanics,” said Marino. “We have kids across the Okanagan doing trades training programs tuition free while they’re in high school.”