NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – The College of the BC Building Trades has launched a Trade Ambassador program to attract more high school students to the construction industry.
The program has been quickly developed by BC Building Trades director of workforce development Layne Clark and uses young volunteers already working in the building trades to speak to students across British Columbia.
The ambassadors are from a cross-section of trades and are in process of completing their apprenticeships, with many women as volunteers, a release said.
“We’ve recruited more than 20 young workers, all under the age of 35, to talk to students about their experiences in construction and not just to represent their own trade, but to talk about all of the building trades,” Clark said.
Volunteers received training at four different College of the BC Building Trades schools and were coached in public speaking. They present a workshop that “broadly introduces students to construction, the apprenticeship process and the 22 trades,” the release said.
Approximately 2,500 students have participated in workshops within the first three months of the program, which started in September and has received positive feedback from teachers and students, the release said.
Clark estimated the program will reach approximately 5,000 students by the end of the school year.
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