St. Albert and Sturgeon County students can now learn to weld at NAIT through a new dual-credit course offered through Sturgeon Public Schools.
About 15 Sturgeon County-area students were about midway through the inaugural Advanced Welding dual-credit course as of April 4. A partnership between Sturgeon Public and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), the course gives students a chance to earn high school credits while completing a course in NAIT’s Advanced Welding Technology diploma program.
Sturgeon Public off-campus and dual-credit lead Chantelle Cadieux said she launched this 10-week course in late February to give Redwater School students a chance to try out welding, as that school does not have a welding shop. The course aims to give students the confidence to pursue welding careers, and is open to high school students at Sturgeon Composite, Redwater School, and the Sturgeon and Morinville Learning Centres. Cadieux said she hopes to open the course to all Albertans this fall.
Cadieux said the course is backed by a $50,000 provincial grant and is one of several dual-credit classes offered through Sturgeon Schools. Some students are also taking regular welding classes at Sturgeon Composite, which has a large welding shop stocked, in most part, with equipment donated from NAIT.
The course sees Sturgeon Public students work online with NAIT instructors to complete the Welding 1000 DC health and safety course, said Mike Smith, academic chair of the advanced welding technology program at NAIT. Students finish the course with a one-day session at NAIT, during which they demonstrate what they have learned in a real welding shop.
“It’s a good way for them to test-drive the NAIT experience,” Smith said.
Smith said this was NAIT’s first time doing a dual-credit course, and other instructors are interested in giving dual-credits a shot.
College in high school
Advanced welding student Ethan Pollon said he got interested in welding through his uncle, who is a welder. His school in Redwater doesn't have a welding shop, so he enrolled in this course to get some experience.
“It’s a great opportunity to have to expand your knowledge faster,” he said, and it has helped at his side job as a welder with North Fringe Industrial Technologies in Gibbons.
Sturgeon Composite students Madison Lutzko and Nicolas Van Wyk said they signed up for this course as they hope to become professional welders.
“I’ve lived on a farm my whole life, so welding has just been a part of that,” Van Wyk said.
Lutzko said she likes the creative possibilities of welding, and hopes to take welding at NAIT once she finishes high school.
Smith said dual-credit courses like this one expose students to the trades, which is important given Alberta’s shortage of skilled tradespeople.
“We need to attract more people into the trades,” he said, especially since many current tradespeople are nearing retirement age.
Questions about the course should go to Cadieux at 780-973-3301.
