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Open Arms at School Open House
Thursday, February 12, 2009Norman De Bono
Sun Media
Melanie Aarsteinsen pulls wires from one of the breaker boxes lining a wall at the North American Trades School and stands back for a moment to admire her handiwork.
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Aarsteinsen, 33, and a single mother of three girls ages 10, seven and five, lost her job at Sterling Truck in St. Thomas in 2007.
She sent out more than 100 resumes looking for work before she realized she had to retrain.
Supported by government programs such as Second Career, Ontario Works and Employment Insurance, Aarsteinsen enrolled in the electrical program at North American Trades School on Highbury Avenue.
In the fall, she will likely work as an apprentice electrician, which she will have to do for about five years, but she will be supporting her young family until she becomes a licensed electrician.
"This is hands-on. It has smaller classes. It is a great way to go back to school, learn a trade and get a job," said Aarsteinsen, who also works part-time while going to school.
The trades school held an open house yesterday to showcase its programs.
More than 100 students have enrolled in the past two months, boosting total enrolment to 340 as laid-off workers in manufacturing have filled its retraining programs.
"You know some of them have families, jobs they work at and then come in here and do this six hours a day. They are incredible," Randy Henry, owner of the trades school, said of his largely adult classes made up of retraining workers.
Students under the Second Career program get about $27,000 for retraining. Enrolment is $15,000 for the one-year courses in electrical, carpentry and construction and heating ventilation and cooling systems.
"These guys don't have a lot left in their pockets, but they are motivated. They know they need to make a change," said Henry.
The school has 50,000 square feet of shop space and teaches six-hour daily classes on three shifts to accommodate people who are still working or have families. Classes run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
"These people are really motivated, they are mature, they have been working . . . this is a very good way to get a job," said Stuart McCrady, a teacher in the electrical program.
Students in the carpentry program build a two-storey home in the school, and do all the plumbing, electrical, drywall and interior finishing work. But its HVAC program, which teaches installation and repairs to heating and cooling systems, has been the most popular course.
Norman De Bono is a Free Press business reporter.
Copyright 2010 NATS London
