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Kids are gone, mom ‘picks up the torch’

Delores Owlchild of the Sunchild First Nation said she didn’t expect to like welding when she started participating in a new joint program between Red Deer College and Sunchild First Nation.
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Delores Owlchild of the Sunchild First Nation said she didn’t expect to like welding when she started participating in a new joint program between Red Deer College and Sunchild First Nation.

Delores Owlchild of the Sunchild First Nation said she didn’t expect to like welding when she started participating in a new joint program between Red Deer College and Sunchild First Nation.

“I was a stay-at-home mom and now that my children are grown, I wanted to go back to school and become a cook actually,” said Owlchild, 44.

“After my experience with this program, I’ve found I really enjoy welding. And I’d like to get into more electrical and carpentry, too.”

Owlchild is one of 22 students from the Sunchild First Nation community, about 40 minutes west of Rocky Mountain House, that make up the new trades-focused pilot project program.

The Sunchild Pre-Trades Exploration Pilot Program seeks to help aboriginal students from Sunchild ease into the transition into college and explore apprenticeship programming while building trade skills, many of which are in high demand in the area.

The program was launched in mid-March in Sunchild and has 12 high school students and 10 adults enrolled.

Students were accepted into the program based on high school attendance and achievement at school.

They studied four weeks of basic welding followed by a month of carpentry. They also received first aid and CPR certification.

In May, the high school students came to spend two weeks on RDC campus to learn more about services and further program options.

The 10 adults came to stay on campus at the beginning of June for three weeks to also explore college life and focus on using the college’s facilities to continue their heavy equipment technician training, electrical training, millwright training and welding techniques.

Today marks their last day at RDC.

“It’s all around been a good experience,” said participant Richard Nackay, 29. “I’m going to now go look for a job in Rocky with one of the oil companies, hopefully start an apprenticeship and come back to the college for the heavy equipment technician course.”

The program opens doors to Aaboriginal students, showing them some valuable skills that can lead to competitive jobs in and around their home, such as Rocky Mountain House, said Allison Nestorvich, the trades and manufacturing program co-ordinator for continuing education at RDC.

“We are hoping to lengthen the program. The students mentioned they’d like more days like the one they had to rip apart a transmission and put it back together.”

The schools hope to see the program run again next year and have put in a proposal looking for the funding to do that, said Nestorvich.

This year, the program was made possible with support from Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training.

rfrancoeur@www.reddeeradvocate.com