About 100 high school students traded in their school uniforms for hard hats, safety glasses and steel-toe boots for a day dedicated to the trades.
St. Clair College hosted the third annual Jill of All Trades event at Main Windsor Campus on Wednesday, May 20, where female students in Grades 9 through 12 from schools across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent came to campus to try their hands at four different skilled trades: welding, electrical, powerline and HVAC.
"Jill of All Trades provides a valuable opportunity for young women to gain hands-on experience and explore a variety of skilled trades in a practical way," said Lido Zuccato, Chair, School of Skilled Trades and Apprenticeships at St. Clair College. "Often, the hardest part is simply getting started, and having the opportunity to build and create something firsthand is an important step in developing the confidence to consider a future career in the trades."
The all-day event provided high schoolers a safe and engaging learning environment where female mentors, St. Clair College faculty and the students engage in skilled trades workshops.
Through these interactive workshops, Jill of All Trades aims to increase post-secondary enrolment in the trades to address the skilled trades shortage.
According to the Jill of All Trades website, over the next five years, Canada will need at least 75,000 new tradespersons to fill the gap of people retiring – and that does not even consider the natural growth the trades will see. Meanwhile, only five per cent of skilled trades workers in Canada identify as women and only two per cent of 15-year-old female students indicate they are planning to pursue a career in the skilled trades.
Grade 11 students Alena Bondy and Zuriel Joy Boachie are bucking that trend.
"I just love being able to see this amount of like people and girls interested in trades, because it lights a spark for everybody," said Bondy, who goes to St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School. "That makes me want to be here and be able to do more hands-on things, and just be more involved."
Bondy and her classmate say the experience was unique from the year before because the activities and faces change from year-to-year.
"For me, it's just nice to feel represented and see people around our age that want to do things like this," said Joy Boachie.
"I want even my friends, my close friends, to see this. They don't really know that much about trades, so I really want them to be able to have this experience as well, and be like, oh, wow, there's so many other job opportunities out there than just the basic jobs," added Bondy.
Students were also treated to breakfast, lunch, a candy bar, and heard from keynote speaker Carrie O'Donnell, a Red Seal plumber and part-time faculty member at St. Clair College.
"I am a woman, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a wife, a mother, a colleague, a mentor, a teacher, a Skilled Trades woman and an advocate," said O'Donnell. "I wear all these hats on any given day, but not one of these roles defines me as an individual. It's the combination of all of them that does."
O'Donnell spoke to the students for about 15 minutes, sharing anecdotes from her pathway to the skilled trades and advice for students considering a career in one of the hundreds of fields available.
"Show up authentically as yourself in all the spaces that you occupy. I invite you to take your space confidently, especially in the spaces that were not created with you in mind," she said. "Stay curious and open to trying new things, listen well, ask questions and do it even if you're scared."
"Fear is normal in new situations. When we conquer it, we don't allow it to limit our lives."
