EBHS students working to earn 4th Class power engineering

PRAIRIE POST - Friday, January 24, 2014 - A5
Southeast Alberta
EBHS students working to earn 4th Class power engineering
B Y R OSE S ANCHEZ — [email protected]
Two students at Eagle Butte High School are taking
advantage of a new course offered through Careers
the Next Generation and South Eastern Alberta
Partners for Youth Career Development.
Fourth Class power engineering has been piloting
in the northern half of the province the past few
years, but now students in southeast Alberta can
also earn credits toward this discipline while still in
high school.
Ty Herman and Austin Ziemann, both in Grade 11
at Eagle Butte High School in Dunmore, are the
first two students in the southeast corner to take
advantage of this opportunity. The course work they
complete in the next two years through NAIT, along
with 960 hours of paid practicum experience, will
mean earning their 4th class power engineering
certification just after graduating from high school.
“There is growing interest in power engineering
across the province,” says Tracy Forbes, the regional
director of South Eastern Alberta Partners for
Youth Career Development and Careers the Next
Generation.
Both Prairie Rose students started their course
work through NAIT in September. They spend one
period every school day in the library working
Photos by Rose Sanchez
through the course material online.
Eagle Butte High School students Ty Herman, left, and Austin Ziemann are taking a power engineering course through NAIT.
In the summer months, they will be mentored in
Below, Ziemann finds the place he left off in his textbook as he gets ready to start a new online lesson.
the trade with Medicine Hat companies. Herman
work right away, they can choose to attend
will work at Canadian Fertilizers while Ziemann
more schooling to upgrade their class of power
will work at Methanex.
engineering.
Both Herman and Ziemann had an interest in
Ziemann points out they are also benefitting
engineering before starting the power engineering
from the fact they will already have contact with
program.
employers, which could give them an advantage
“I had an interest in engineering before, but I
in a competitive field.
wasn’t sure what type,” says Herman, who lives on
“It’s a foot ahead of the competition,” he adds.
a farm near Hilda. “I’m good at math and sciences.
So far, the first semester of study has been a lot
When this program came up I went to a couple
of safety training and just skimming the surface
of presentations on it and it caught my interest.
of information about boilers. Both students are
I decided to take part.”
Ziemann also has always wanted to do some type of looking forward to the summer when they will get
some hands-on work experience in the field.
work involving engineering.
There were only two spots available in Medicine
“Once we went on the tour (of Methanex) I was
Hat for practicum experience and officials with
really interested,” says Ziemann, who lives north of
Prairie Rose School Division (PRSD) are proud
Irvine. “We went out there (to Methanex) and they
their students are represented.
said what a great opportunity this was.”
“It’s an exciting new program and we’re already
Taking part in a program such as this offers many
More information about South Eastern Alberta
involved in it,” said Brad Volkman, deputy
benefits to the students. They will walk out of high
Partners for Youth Career Development can be found
superintendent, at a November board meeting.
school with the ability to be hired immediately as
online at: www.youthcareer.ca. The Careers the Next
“It’s exciting for Prairie Rose to get both of these
4th class power engineers without first having to
Generation website is: www.nextgen.org.
spots when intake can be pretty high.”
attend post-secondary school. If they don’t want to
S.E. Alta. partnership helps youth explore career possibilities
B Y R OSE S ANCHEZ — [email protected]
Officials involved with South Eastern Alberta
Partners for Youth Career Development want young
people to have opportunities to explore potential
careers while they are in high school.
The goal of the organization is that “through a coordinated effort, youth will have optimal access to
career development resources and be better
prepared to take advantage of relevant learning and
workplace opportunities.”
Tracy Forbes is the regional director of South
Eastern Alberta Partners for Youth Career
Development and Careers the Next Generation.
That partnership includes government agencies,
industry, the Medicine Hat College, and five school
boards in southeast Alberta including Prairie Rose
School Division and Grasslands Public Schools.
“We want to make an effort to provide meaningful
career exploration (opportunities). We offer an
opportunity to explore a career. Then some youth
find out it’s not for them after all,” says Forbes.
She adds it’s better for these youth to discover they
don’t like a certain career at age 16 or 17 as opposed
to when they are 30.
Geared towards students in grades 10 to 12, the
partnership oversees the offering of trades-type
work opportunities. One such area is oil and gas
production field operations (PFO). Through SAIT,
students take courses online and through the
summer months there are limited numbers of
internship opportunities. At the end of high school,
the students who complete the work experience and
courses end up with a post-secondary certificate and
can begin working full-time in oil and gas
production field operations.
There were about 40 southeast Alberta students
who took advantage of this offering last year and 11
had internships last summer.
There is also the Registered Apprenticeship
Program involving about 80 students on average
each year and the health services youth initiative
where about 20 students can explore careers in the
health field. Those areas include nursing aid type
positions, medical laboratory technology,
occupational health and physical therapy, speech,
language and hearing, clinical nutrition, pharmacy,
children’s health and developmental services and
the healthy living program.
New this year in southeast Alberta is a 4th Class
Power Engineering certificate offered through NAIT.
There were only two internships available locally —
Methanex and Canadian Fertilizers — and both
those spots are filled by Prairie Rose School Division
students. (See related story above).
“There is growing interest in power engineering
across the province,” adds Forbes, about this course
which was piloted in northern and central Alberta
first.
South Eastern Alberta Partners for Youth Career
Development organizes recognition evenings to
honour RAP scholarship winners and those
completing the production field operations
requirements. Officials are also overseeing the
regional SKILLS competition and trades awareness
event set to be held April 29 this year.
Forbes says students work hard in the programs as
they have to maintain good grades and excellent
attendance. The end result is young adults who are
ready to be hired by eager businesses.
“They’re ready for the workforce,” points out
Forbes about the students.
Gerry Schnell, senior co-ordinator, operations with
Cenovus Energy Inc., has seen this first-hand. He is
also the current chair of the South Eastern Alberta
Partners for Youth Career Development.
He’s been working with the partners organization
for the past decade on a professional working level,
with about four of those years sitting on the board of
directors.
“Students take these courses and they can get
credit at school, but some kids get internships,”
says Schnell. “They get to work hands-on with the
company. These guys and gals have the opportunity
to work with us and us with them and we give them
honest feedback.”
There are nine employees working with Cenovus
who actually started their careers with the company
through the PFO internship opportunities offered
through South Eastern Alberta Partners for Youth
Career Development.
Schnell also works with Cenovus to recruit
university engineering students and help them get
set up with mentors in the company.
“One of my passions is to help young people
succeed,” says Schnell, who has also been a hockey
coach for the past 16 years.
Taking part in the work programs isn’t easy for
students. They work hard to complete the courses
and work through the summer if they get an
internship.
“It’s a lot of extra work, but it’s really helping their
career options,” adds Schnell.
He is proud Cenovus can play such a big role in
the PFO program — last year it offered nine students
internships out of the 40 involved.
“We’ve helped a lot of young people get into
this field,” he says, adding the supervisors in the
Medicine Hat area receive a lot of support from
head office in Calgary.
Some students who took the PFO course in high
school are now in their fifth year of their careers
and “doing a great job,” points out Schnell.
“It’s been very successful for us and I hope we can
continue to be part of it.”
More information about South Eastern Alberta
Partners for Youth Career Development can be found
online at www.youthcareer.ca. Information about
Careers the Next Generation can be found at:
www.nextgen.org.