May 8, 2023 (Langford, BC) – Awarded to the Construction Foundation of BC (CFBC) in 2022, Black and Decker’s Empower Makers Global Impact Challenge tool grant has allowed the Foundation to provide support and education for schools and communities throughout the province of BC. Career Catalyst Randy Grey and his grant material and tool distribution in BC classrooms and communities is one example of how the grant is benefitting the CFBC network of initiatives.
Over the past year, Grey has worked with students and educators to raise awareness and spark interest surrounding potential careers that the trades industry offers. This has been achieved by building teacher capacity, providing tools to schools and programs, and connecting with rural First Nation communities that lack the traditional resources to provide trades education and experiences to youth.
Building teacher capacity focuses on assisting educators that are looking to gain experience with tools used in the skilled trades through a process referred to as ‘Train the Trainer’.
“ADST (Applied Design, Skills and Technology) is a mandatory program, but using woodworking tools is not usually a teacher’s first choice to deliver the curriculum,” noted Grey. “However, it’s needed in order to help youth figure out if they like working with their hands and possibly a trade.”
Grey notes that First Nation community schools in particular are typically without a shop teacher to provide ADST programming. This results in the majority of students without hand or power tool experience and a lack of confidence in trades as a potential career path as a result.
Visits from Grey address these issues by providing hands-on experience with tools (jig saw, drill, sanders, speed squares, tape measures, and more) received through the Empower Makers grant.
“Train the Trainer is important because there are only roughly 20 of the 1500 new teachers graduating from our University Teacher Education programs annually that are Technology Education trained,” added Grey. “There are not enough to fill the demand for shop course opportunities in school districts, especially in rural communities. The Empower Makers grant has allowed us to facilitate and operate these sessions with educators and students.”
The supports for educators don’t end with each visit. Grey and CFBC have developed online resources that are continually updated and shared following Train the Trainer sessions.
In addition to Grey’s efforts in BC, the Empower Makers grant has benefitted CFBC’s Skills Ready and All Roads initiatives, as well as Quesnel’s Young Women in Trades and Indigenous Youth Spring Break trades camps.
Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program will award up to $25 million in grant funding over five years to non-profits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors. CFBC was selected as one of 86 organizations that will help skill and re-skill roughly 180,000 makers. To learn more about Stanley Black & Decker’s “Empower Makers” Global Impact Challenge, please visit EmpowerMakers.com.
For more information on the work being done by the Construction Foundation of BC and to donate, please visit www.constructionfoundation.ca.
About Stanley Black & Decker
Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the world’s largest tool company operating nearly 50 manufacturing facilities across America and more than 100 worldwide. Guided by its purpose – for those who make the world – the company’s more than 60,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world’s makers, creators, tradespeople and builders.
The company’s iconic brands include DEWALT, BLACK+DECKER, CRAFTSMAN, STANLEY, Cub Cadet, Hustler and Troy-Bilt. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.
