Sixty 12-year-old boys and girls from the Trillium Lakelands District School Board are getting the opportunity to learn about carpentry, plumbing, welding, and the culinary arts at the three-day Tech it Out camp at Fleming College in Peterborough.
The event runs from May 1-3 and is directed at Grade 7 students because by the time they enter Grade 9 they need to know what career path they will follow.
The camp aims to help those who may be considering entering the skilled trades.
Fleming College carpentry instructor Steve Mcdonnell says most of the students have never worked with hand tools so instruction starts with the basics.
“I show them how to hold a hammer, how to nail, where to keep their eye,” he said.
“It’s very basic but when they leave at the end of this project, they feel they’ve really accomplished something.”
The camps are offered at the Sutherland Campus in Peterborough and the Frost Campus in Lindsay.
Jan Watson, with the Fleming College School of Trades and Technology, says interest in the skilled trades has soared, for both men and women.
“We had a girl yesterday who participated in a drilling and blasting workshop out at our Frost Campus as part of the camp, and she said I’ve always wanted to do this but thought I never could because I was a girl,” said Watson.
Watson says over 1,600 students have taken part in Fleming College’s day and overnight camps.
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