“You can do anything with a welder. It’s unlimited,” said Tattrie.
MacPhee says learning to weld as part of the Production Technology 12 course makes class more fun.
“You can use the welder to explore and see what you can make,” he says. “It makes school more interesting.
About 25 people participated in the official opening ceremony including students, staff, board officials and Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Karen Casey, along with representatives of the Truro and Colchester Chamber of Commerce.
“You can do anything with a welder. It’s unlimited,” said Tattrie.
MacPhee says learning to weld as part of the Production Technology 12 course makes class more fun.
“You can use the welder to explore and see what you can make,” he says. “It makes school more interesting.
About 25 people participated in the official opening ceremony including students, staff, board officials and Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Karen Casey, along with representatives of the Truro and Colchester Chamber of Commerce.
“The supply of skilled trades within the community continues to be raised as a challenge facing local businesses,” says Chamber president Andrew Lake. “Chamber members and businesses with links to the welding trade did not hesitate to support the development of a welding lab at the high school, as a means to expose students to the profession."
The chamber hosted a fundraising campaign to assist with renovations at the school, and purchase of equipment, to enhance hands-on skilled trades training for high school students. About 20 chamber members and industry partners provided more than $11,000 in financial and in-kind assistance to the school’s renovation project.
Creation of the hot lab demonstrates how groups can come together, “to benefit students and provide them with an opportunity to learn a skill that will benefit them in life and possible post-secondary studies,” says school principal Bill Kaulbach.
The lab was constructed in an area of the school previously used for automotive trades training in the 1980s. The classroom was extensively renovated to meet all current building codes and safety standards.
Welding is offered as part of the curriculum in a number of courses.
Approximately 150 students will have access to the hot lab this year.
