‘Students love it’: New program aims to spark interest in trades at Calgary schools

‘We realized that there was a gap between the workforce needs, as well as when kids were learning in schools about skilled trades and construction careers,’ said Angela Coldwell, founder of Honour the Work

via Calgary Herald by Steven Wilhelm

A new initiative at Calgary elementary schools aims to help educate students about skilled trades and construction careers.

The curriculum supplement, a program called Honour the Work, was launched in 750 Calgary Catholic School District classrooms this year, along with 40 within the Calgary Board of Education.

One school in Red Deer and 18 schools in Edmonton are also signed on, all of them funded by their local construction associations, says Angela Coldwell, founder of Honour the Work.

Coldwell worked as a high school teacher in Alberta and her husband works in the construction industry, a combination that sparked the idea for the program five years ago.

“We realized that there was a gap between the workforce needs, as well as when kids were learning in schools about skilled trades and construction careers,” she said.

Looking at research, they found that elementary school is the prime time to “light sparks” and decrease stereotypes within STEM, particularly around involvement of women in various roles.

“Gender stereotypes that occur and the biases that occur, which results in less than 25 per cent of the STEM industry in Canada being female,” Coldwell said, noting their goal isn’t just women — they want all students to realize these careers are a path for them.

“Construction careers, skill trades careers are STEM careers, not just architecture and engineering — all of them require math and science,” she said.

‘The students love it’

Coldwell said the program gives children materials to build and create in the way that they learn best — through play.

“We’re supporting educators at the same time as we’re supporting our diverse student body,” she said.

Beginning this fall, the curriculum was brought to more than 30,000 elementary students in Calgary.

Hands-on activities and books are connecting the curriculum to careers, Coldwell explained.

Grade 2 teacher Anna Galambos put the new curriculum into action at Don Bosco School in southeast Calgary, where her students practiced brick-laying in an unconventional way.

“We are attempting to build a house out of sugar cubes and icing … and it is very messy,” Galambos said as the chatter of her students filled the classroom.

“The students love it. They’re super engaged about everything that we’ve been talking about,” she said.

Grade 2 students work on a brick laying project with sugar cubes and icing at Don Bosco School in Calgary on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. Steven Wilhelm/Postmedia

She said for teachers, the lessons provided give many different options to look at and use for research.

“I don’t know these jobs, so having somebody else put something together for me has been a huge help,” Galambos said.

Kits for elementary grades will each come with several supplies, some of which can be used for multiple school years, while other “consumable” items will need to be replenished.

Some other projects Coldwell highlighted were where kids make plumbing systems out of PEX pipe and another where they use small motors to create wind turbines.

Program could help address labour shortage

The Calgary Construction Association (CCA), which has more than 850 member companies throughout the Calgary region, is funding the program with an aim to tackle the growing skilled trades labour shortage.

Bill Black, president and CEO of the CCA said traditionally the construction and trades industries have spent a lot of time in high schools, with things such as talks or demonstrations.

“The reality is, the workforce challenge happened despite that,” Black said.

“Once the kids (go into) high school, they may not have decided what they are going to do, but more and more they’ve probably decided what they’re not going to do.”

The program allows the industry to connect with elementary students and prevent “stigma” around certain roles.

“With construction being kind of labeled as a bit of a ‘second rate career,’ a bit of ‘if you’re not smart enough to go to college, you can always go into construction,’ that’s a really unfortunate stigma,” said Black.

He said the program is an opportunity for teachers and parents to see kids getting excited about the idea of building something from nothing, or building something to solve a problem.

“A lot of the trades require a high degree of science and understanding, ability to calculate, to measure, to plan, to build a solution that actually is an engineered solution — it’s not just a kit,” Black said.

He hopes in time, other funding partners such as the province might help roll out the program even further.

“We stepped up, industry 100 per cent funded this; we want you (the province) to match. We want you to step in and make this a permanent thing,” Black said.