Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day!  Today we celebrate the achievements, heritage and cultures of Indigenous peoples across Canada.  It is in this spirit, that we would like share and celebrate the accomplishments of the Grade 8 students at W̱SÁNEĆ School in Saanichton. Over the last few months, our Skills Ready colleague, Dean Heron, was welcomed by community members and

Through our Ultimate Skills initiative, we are proud to support Ultimate Spirit, an ISPARC Honour Your Health Challenge, developed to introduce the youth of Stz-uminus First Nation to the game of Ultimate Frisbee. On Monday, March 11th Ultimate Spirit took flight with a gathering of community and supporters in celebration of life, health and play.

Students from Templeton Secondary and John Oliver Secondary came together earlier this week to try their hand at boat building! The competition preparations began last week when industry professionals provided preliminary instruction to the students and shared some of the fundamentals that would help them be successful on the big day. Yesterday 75 students worked

Skills Ready Showcase Events bring industry employers into the classroom in an informal setting to see the good works that are going on in shop classes across the province. The Female Trades Sampler class in School District 23 invited us in to hold a showcase event with them just before the holidays. This amazing class

This past Tuesday, we brought 40 Mount Douglas Secondary students to the University of Victoria for a career exploration opportunity. The students braved the rain and toured the newly built District Energy Plant, a highly innovative and beautiful building on campus. The Project Co-ordinator for the construction of the building, Brandon, explained the challenges and

On Tuesday, December 4th a group of students from Byrne Creek Secondary in Burnaby were treated to a very special Behind the Scenes Tour. This Skills Ready Behind the Scenes tour took place in the Port of Vancouver. As the largest and most diversified port in Canada, the Port of Vancouver connects with over 170

STARTING ON THE TOOLS Jessica Sidhu is the Lead Project Coordinator with Kinetic Construction. She got her start in the construction industry when she was 17 years old. Jessica took an ACE IT (now “Youth Train in Trades”) program during secondary school. Youth Train in Trades is a dual credit program earning students secondary school

Earlier this month our Skills Ready Career Catalyst and Ultimate Skills Coach, Jimmy Roney, took some time out of the office to volunteer at a youth leadership camp named Ultimate Peace. Ultimate Peace was established by a group of dedicated volunteers who saw an opportunity to bring two groups of young people together, who would

WHY WELDING? Trevor Chown’s interest in welding began in high school during his time in a shop class. Upon learning the basics of welding, Trevor realized it came quite naturally to him. Observing this same attribute, Trevor’s shop teacher approached him with the idea of taking a South Island Partnership (SIP) Dual Credit Program with

Showcase Events are produced in partnership with schools and educators to bring industry professionals into shop classes. These events provide a fantastic opportunity for students to pitch their design-build process and demonstrate their skills. On February 13th the Construction Ready team held a showcase event with the students of Gulf Islands Secondary School’s TASK (Trades

Educators from across the province are taking big steps to help young people get ready for life after high school. We first met Stephen Macinnis at Salmon Arm Secondary when we met his Explore-a-Trades sampler class. Mr. Macinnis started his career in the trades and when an injury cut his time on site short, he

Jenna Mitchell, 3rd year electrical apprentice, says “This career path has already changed my life”. The trades have allowed her to push herself to see what she can accomplish. During the past 4 years working in electrical, Jenna has learned a lot about herself, stating “It’s been such a positive experience. I’ve grown and learned