Plumbing graduates earn certificates

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This article was published 05/03/2020 (2128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a year of hard work, eight First Nations and Métis celebrated the completion of their first step to a plumbing career on Feb. 21.

Assiniboine Community College offered the program at its Parkland campus in Dauphin.

Friends and family filled the Dauphin Friendship Centre to cheer the graduates’ success in the program, according to a college news release.

The Parkland Campus is located less than 160 kilometres from many First Nations communities, including Skownan, Waywayseecappo, O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi, Ebb and Flow, Tootinaowaaziibeeng, Pine Creek, Rolling River and Keeseekoowenin First Nations, who all expressed support for the program prior to its start in January 2019. That support came mainly because it keeps students closer to home and their families, which the college says increases academic success.

“The design of this program meets the needs of First Nations learners. We know that with Assiniboine Community College in Dauphin, our students will be more successful since they do not have to move to a larger urban centre,” stated post-secondary counsellor at the Ebb and Flow First Nation Education Authority Sheena Houle last year.

Clarence Catcheway was valedictorian of the graduating class.

“What I enjoyed was finding out about all the work that’s involved in piping,” Catcheway said. “There’s a lot of science. It’s quite a bit of work to know.”

Charlie McKay had similar sentiments, saying, “The whole learning process I found rewarding — learning and then asking questions. I enjoyed all of it.”

Catcheway and McKay both said that science gave them quite a challenge.

The program was also meant to help fill labour gaps in the province.

McKay, who has worked in home renovations for many years, stated in the news release that he had observed a need for Indigenous plumbers based on his experiences waiting for a plumber.

“On the reserve, there are not many plumbers, and plumbers outside the community are very busy,” he said.

McKay entered the college program as a mature student, and said he did find sitting in a classroom for six hours challenging.

Wesley Pelletier is also a mature student and had not graduated high school. He had doubts.

“I’m 51 years old now and I was kind of like, ‘Do I really want to do this? Do I belong here? Am I going to be able to do this?’ I was kind of doubting myself,” he said.

He has also been in a car accident, which resulted in serious injuries, and he was maintaining newfound sobriety, according to the release.

Nevertheless, he dove into the program, which focused on a condensed high school course for the first six months. For mature students who did not have their high school diplomas, this meant they now had one.

“As a result of my accident, I knew I wouldn’t be able to work at my previous job for a while, so instead of just wasting the year, I thought there was an opportunity for me, if anything, to get my Grade 12 education and the plumbing certificate as well,” Pelletier said, though he did do battle with the math.

He added that he learned “you can go through some really tough times and you can fight back and make good if it.”

Program staff included certified teachers for the academic preparation and a certified Red Seal plumber for the trades instruction; a job coach, to help students find community and college resources to succeed in the program and to help graduates transition to the workforce; an education assistant, to support students in studying and completing assignments; and elders and knowledge keepers, to provide motivation and support to individual students, according to the pre-program news release.

“Participants need and deserve a program that reflects their culture, acknowledges Indigenous history and that is made more relevant to them through a program and curriculum that is customized to include these features,” Lorraine Johnson, the college’s chairperson of contract training Lorraine Johnson, said last year.

The program provides credit for a Level 1 plumbing apprenticeship in-school technical training and graduates who received their certificate are eligible for the next steps.

Pelletier is considering his next steps while he continues to heal, while Catcheway and McKay plan on continuing pursuing the trade — with Catcheway looking to partner up with a journeyman plumber friend.

Johnson and the program graduates were not available to speak to The Brandon Sun by press time. 

» The Brandon Sun