The Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers (ARCCAW) has been a long-time partner of Skills Canada Alberta’s Provincial Skills Canada Competition, supporting the exhilarating Launchpad and hosting the Carpentry Try-A-Trade®. To celebrate our partnership, we visited their Edmonton Training Centre, to learn more about the work they do to promote skilled trades in Alberta. ARCCAW is the provincial body serving over 13,000 members of four local unions. ARCCAW offers various apprenticeship programs and invests over $3 million annually in professional development for their members through numerous upgrading courses including: blueprint reading, forklift training, surveying, rigging and a pre-employment program with Tradewinds to Success. We spoke with several apprentices to learn more about the carpentry and scaffolding trades and what sets ARCCAW apart. When asked why they chose carpentry as a skilled trade, students enthused about “how broad it is… I can build a structure like a high rise to a little wooden box. In carpentry, we have our hands in every trade. We build a base, and everyone follows us as if we are the leaders.” ARCCAW is the preferred training facility for many apprentices due to its small class sizes and one-on-one time with instructors. Class sizes are a maximum of 12-15 students, giving more in-depth training and supervision. Scaffolding Apprentice, Porscha Demyen, further explained she “enjoys the instructors and the interactions between teachers and students. The interaction is not forced but encouraged. The best part of this training is that we all work together.” The spirit of giving back was evident throughout the Training Centre. Instructor Len Lopatynski explains that with many workers expected to retire soon, teaching gives him the opportunity to “pass on everything I have done and learned as a dedicated Union member over the past 29 years”, to ensure the knowledge is not lost on future workers. For students, carpentry is much more than a job. First-year apprentice, Yunis Shire, said he hopes to become a Master Carpenter in Canada and return to his roots in Somalia to help ‘build much-needed infrastructure’. Whilst the possibility for careers in carpentry and scaffolding are varied, the Apprentices told us they are most looking forward to continuous learning and leadership. “There’s so much learning. Once you become a journeyman, you’re still learning. That is the number one thing I’ve been told – that is when you truly start to learn. You’re on your own with someone underneath your wing and that’s exciting for me – to keep pushing my limits and where I want to go.” Skills Canada Alberta is proud of our partnership with ARCCAW, as we share the common goal of promoting skilled trades to youth and educating Alberta’s youth about careers available to them in the trades and technologies. We look forward to continuing our partnership.

Melissa Smith is a grade 12 student at William E. Hay Settler Secondary Campus. Like many other high school students in the Province, she plans to take part in her regional Skills Canada Competition this year, with the hopes of reaching the Provincial Skills Canada Competition. What sets Melissa apart is the journey she has had to get to this point. In 2017, Melissa competed in Hairstyling Junior at the Central Regional Skills Canada Competition (RSCC) in Red Deer. In grade 10 at the time, Melissa says she was both excited and nervous to take part, and that she did not know what to expect. One thing she did know, however, was how much she enjoyed hairstyling. Melissa practices styling on her mannequin in class at William E. Hay Settler Secondary Campus “I’ve been styling hair since I was 6 years old,” explains Melissa. “It’s just something I’ve always been interested in. So as soon as I was old enough to compete, Mrs. Kneeland-Teasdale invited me to be a part of the competition.” Melissa says she was very satisfied with her result and was proud of what she accomplished at her first competition. “As I was leaving I thought to myself – now next year I won’t be as scared, next year I’ll know what to work on to prepare. I just couldn’t wait to come back the next year.” In the weeks leading up to the competition, Melissa had been experiencing pain in her leg and ankle, which she attributed to a slip on the ice. Shortly after the Central RSCC, Melissa noticed a large lump on her leg. Her parents took her to the Emergency Room, and within 48 hours Melissa was diagnosed with bone cancer in her leg. Melissa began chemotherapy and other treatments, which she describes as very draining. “I felt like I’d lost my personality, my hobbies, everything.” Melissa continued treatment for many months, with her last chemotherapy treatment taking place right before the second semester of the 2018 school year kicked off. “I was starting to want to do things again. And one of those things was cosmetology. So, Mrs. Kneeland-Teasdale gave me mannequins to work on, so I could sort of follow along with the class. I started practicing and formulating a new hairstyle for the 2018 Regional Competition.” Melissa with Cosmetology teacher, Alicia Kneeland-Teasdale. Alicia Kneeland-Teasdale, Melissa’s Cosmetology teacher, remembers a day when she went to visit Melissa in the hospital and found her practicing her Regional Competition hairstyle in her bed. Melissa had thought she would be back in school in time to take part in the Central Regional Competition that year. However, some complications with her recovery prevented her from competing. “I was really hoping to compete in 2018. But I decided that as much as I wanted to compete, I really needed to focus on getting better before I could do anything else.” Melissa is now cancer-free and hopes to take part in the 2019 Hairstyling Intermediate Competition in Red Deer later this year. Despite having missed some in-class teaching last year, Melissa is confident that the support of her teacher and peers will help her get to where she needs to be for the upcoming competition season. “It’s really incredible how much support I’ve received from my teachers and my classmates. I have no doubts that I’ll be able to catch up and will be ready to compete this year. Mrs. Kneeland-Teasdale is the best, and I know she’ll work with me.” When asked whether she would recommend competing in a Skills Canada Competition to other students her age, Melissa quickly replied “Absolutely! Just do it. I like being able to come up with my own style, to express myself that way, and then be able to show it off at the Regional Competition”. When asked what her favourite part of taking students to competitions was, Alicia Kneeland-Teasdale said “watching them realize what they can do. Watching them see that they really do have talent and potential. I get to see that hit them, and it blows my mind.” Melissa with Cosmetology class mates. William E. Hay Settler Secondary Campus has taken part in Regional Hairstyling Competitions for 8 years, medaling in 3 of those years, and sending competitors to the Provincial Skills Canada Competition in 4 of those years. Melissa’s classmate Bethany Brown took home the gold medal in Hairstyling Intermediate at the 2018 Regional Competition in Red Deer. When speaking with Melissa’s teacher and peers, it is clear how much of an inspiration and positive light she has been to those around her. She has handled her personal battle with strength and determination and looks to approach her next competition with the same attitude. “I know what I need to do to step up, and I think I’m going to do even better this year.”

CLAC has been a proud supporter of Skills Canada Alberta programs and initiatives, including the Provincial Skills Canada Competition and Skills Exploration Days. To celebrate our partnership, we visited CLAC’s Edmonton office to learn more about their programs, and to check in with some of our Provincial competitors. Who is CLAC? While many people may be familiar with CLAC’s welding programs, they offer courses, training and support in many other areas. “We represent everyone on a construction site”, noted Brad Bent, Director of Training at CLAC. “We meet the needs of our stakeholders, so a lot of our programs focus on work readiness. Those programs include health and safety courses, first-aid, pre-employment courses and other introductory programs.” A group of learners participate in one of CLAC’s First Aid Courses CLAC offers training in Welding, Electrical, Scaffolding, Insulation and much more. Approximately 40,000 learners take part in CLAC programs each year. “We are very holistic in our approach to training”, explains Bent. “We want to be involved in people’s careers from start to finish. That’s why we offer entry-level programs and training in areas like workplace planning and project management. If people want to move into different career opportunities in their industry, we can help them on that career path.” Students and Instructors from one of CLAC’s Welding classes working together. Our Partnership CLAC and Skills Canada Alberta share the common objective of ensuring young people have a good understanding of the trades, and the various opportunities available in trade careers. “We are very committed to providing young people with the opportunity to positively experience the trades,” explains Bent. “So many young people are being pushed to make decisions about their future in high school. When they are making those initial career decisions, we want to make sure that the trades are part of that conversation. And I think that through our partnership with Skills Canada Alberta, we are able to get into areas with junior high and high school students that we ourselves would never be able to get into.” A WorldSkills Calgary 2009 jersey hangs in the halls of CLAC. CLAC Supports their Competitors CLAC often hires apprentices, hoping to provide a comfortable work and learning space for people learning to master their trade. This year, two such apprentices are competing in the 2018 Provincial Skills Canada Competition. Both Joel Moerman and Cody Gaudette have competed in Skills Canada Competitions before. Cody has competed twice in Secondary Welding, taking home the silver medal at last year’s Provincial Competition, while Joel took home gold and went on to join Team Alberta at last year’s National Competition. “I loved it. The first year I did it, it was more of a learning experience. My second year, I came in first at regionals, so it was motivating to work hard for Provincials”, explains Gaudette. “Skills is what drove me to become a welder because I was doing so well at it.” Both Joel and Cody are thankful to have such a supportive employer in CLAC. Moerman explains “Every day they give me practice time, and they let us stay after work and practice as well. That’s been a huge help to me.” Gaudette adds, “I don’t know anywhere else where we could get this kind of practice time.” When asked about why they enjoy working at CLAC, both Joel and Cody agreed that the instructors and staff are what make CLAC special and unique. “We have a lot of great staff here, and I get a lot of great advice”, notes Moerman. Gaudette says that “The instructors are awesome, and they really know their stuff. They listen to you and try to find a way to help each person and teach everyone differently. I’ve learned a lot since I started here.” Provincial Skills Canada Competitors Joel Moerman (left) and Cody Gaudette (right) both work and practice at CLAC. We spoke with Tedd Gunn, Welding Shop Coordinator at CLAC, about his experience working with Joel and Cody. He explains, “They have a great work ethic. And both have a lot of drive and skill. They have a vision of where they want to go with their career. And they both want to go to WorldSkills in Russia.” Gunn says that when Joel and Cody placed first and second at Provincials last year, he knew right away he wanted to hire both of them. “Skills is a phenomenal thing, you have to get out and see it. Go look, it’s free! Everything you watch competitors do is phenomenal.” Skills Canada Alberta is proud to continue our partnership with CLAC, as we share the common goal of educating young people in our province about the careers available to them in the trades and technologies, and we both recognize the importance of providing a platform for students to develop and refine their skills. We look forward to our continued partnership.