Trades students in Regina give back to local not-for-profits

Construction worker students at the Regina Trades and Skills Centre (RTCS) are working to replace a deck for a local not-for-profit, the Regina Residential Resources Centre (RRRC).

The RTCS brings in students in areas of demand, providing them the opportunity to learn in a work-based learning environment while giving back to the community.

“We safety certify them in the orientation week, then we spend a number of weeks on instruction,” said Brian Shankowsky, the executive director of the RTCS. “At the end of the instruction, they are then hooked to a partner company that wants to potentially employ one of these students down the road.”

The RTCS currently operates with around a 94 per cent employment rate. Some potential employers were scheduled to visit the site during the construction process.

As part of the current project, 11 construction students will remove and replace the existing deck at one of the RRRC’s facilities.

According to a media release, the RRRC’s mission is “to provide quality, self-directed services and support to individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families in a professional and respectful manner.”

“With this particular project, the RTCS tries to find projects with not-for-profit organizations that are needing something done that is in the area of the training,” Shankowsky said. “In this case, they needed a deck replaced. It was badly in need of replacing.

“So we came here, we looked at the project (and) my instructor said, ‘Yeah, we could do this. This is a good entry-level project.’ (The students) spend some time in the shop learning some of the skills and then they come here and do a practical application of their skills in a real job setting.”

Entry-level students learn everything from measuring to cutting.

“In a lot of situations, if you talk to the employers in Regina area, one of the skills that can be missing for entry-level individuals is how to read a tape measure,” Shankowsky said.

“All of these students are experiencing that here on this job site. They’re learning how to use the tools that are related to the construction trade, and they’re just becoming more familiar with the things that are part of their area of interest.”

For Shankowsky, seeing the students succeed gets him out of bed in the morning.

“(It’s) fantastic,” Shankowsky said. “It’s part of why I have a great staff and it’s a benefit of coming to work each day, knowing that we’re helping people get started in an area that they perhaps need some help in. Our slogan is ‘Get your boot in the door,’ and it’s very appropriate when we get you started.

“It’s up to them, of course, to continue in that direction and do the things that they’re taught during the training period. But it’s a fantastic feeling. It’s one of those things that I can’t even describe to you … Everybody works for wage, right? You come to work and you get paid, but it’s one of those intrinsic things that happen. That makes the job very worthwhile.”