Lambrick Park secondary is all but empty on a Friday afternoon, except for a handful of kids in goggles and ear protection, working machines in the woodshop hall.
The grinding noise is constant as Mitchell Smith leads lengths of lumber through the high-tech Weinig moulder. Michael McCue stacks precisely beveled and rounded strips that are spit out the other end.
The operation has an industrial mill vibe, and it should. After the rest of the schoolB次元官网网址檚 staff and students go home, the woodwork classroom turns into the woodwork business.
ItB次元官网网址檚 taken 14 years and many trade shows, but teacher Roger Conrod has built up a woodworking shop that is the envy of any trades school, let alone a high school. Lambrick is the owner of seven high-end industrial woodcrafting machines, all donated and installed by mainly American companies.
In turn, Conrod has parlayed that into a niche lumber business, which gives students hands-on experience and employs them at the same time, at better than minimum wage. At age 17 with three years experience, Smith is the foreman of the operation and the only student still qualified on the forklift B次元官网网址� the school has three, also donated.
B次元官网网址淜iln dry wood, stack lumber, run siding, run flooring, making tables,B次元官网网址� Smith says, describing his weekly work routine. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a great experience, itB次元官网网址檚 a great introduction into the trades.B次元官网网址�
A main thrust of the business is custom wood drying in the Koetter kiln, typically red or yellow cedar, fir and pine. With aluminum siding it resembles an oversized garden shed, but the kiln can suck moisture out of up to 3,000 board-feet of lumber over a two or three week period.
B次元官网网址淭he dry kiln was the real start. I worked wood shows and developed a sponsorship from 3M Canada. That opened the doors,B次元官网网址� Conrod says. B次元官网网址淜oetter came onboard with a kiln. Over all of Victoria, weB次元官网网址檙e the only one with a dry kiln to this day.B次元官网网址�
Conrod has attended industrial lumber conventions across the U.S. with binder in hand of what his students have accomplished as a small business.
After enough convincing B次元官网网址� or badgering B次元官网网址� machining companies have trucked the machines to Lambrick Park, at times months or years later.
Conrod says companies donate the expensive machines as a means to train a local workforce and to show B.C. lumber companies that qualified operators are here.
B次元官网网址淭he kids get exposure to this type of operation and are able when they graduate to move into the industry,B次元官网网址� he says.
Using the MultiCam computer-controlled router or the Weinig machine, employee students process a clientB次元官网网址檚 lumber into flooring or siding. Through lumber clients, students have milled wood for the likes of former hockey star Geoff Courtnall, the billionaire McCaw family of James Island and most recently for Wickaninnish Inn, Conrod says.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 got to be win-win. We canB次元官网网址檛 buy wood, and to train kids, theyB次元官网网址檝e got to be pushing wood through the machines,B次元官网网址� Conrod says. B次元官网网址淚f others are willing to pay for wood, weB次元官网网址檙e willing to do the machining.
B次元官网网址淎 lot of it is word of mouth. We donB次元官网网址檛 want to compete with local businesses, but we fill a niche,B次元官网网址� adds the 37-year teaching veteran. B次元官网网址淎ny big volume (of lumber) we tell them to take it up Island or to Shawnigan Lake. The economy has definitely slowed up and we are cognizant of local businesses. We have no intention of taking business away.B次元官网网址�
The lumber milling business employs up to seven students, who work two or three hours each day after school, sometimes into the weekend and through the summer.
Conrod says the business is a break-even venture, at best. The school canB次元官网网址檛 afford to buy lumber for secondary manufacturing and is dependent on clients who need kiln drying or small volumes of milled wood.
That means nothing goes to waste B次元官网网址� sawdust is send to Eurosa Gardens or the Pacific Horticultural Centre mixed for garden compost. B次元官网网址淓ven our scrap is sold as kindling. We try to show students total recovery of resources and itB次元官网网址檚 most important not to waste,B次元官网网址� Conrod says.
These days, business has slowed, but student employees are keeping busy with a project to produce high-quality First Nations paddles. What started as a small school project has expanded into a small business unto itself.
Woodworking students craft the paddles, art students add silk-screened images, and business students do the marketing. School district international recruiters used the paddles as gifts when they go abroad and principals from across the region have placed about a dozen orders. Any profits are earmarked for the United Way.
B次元官网网址淧roject-based learning across multiple disciplines is the hallmark of the future,B次元官网网址� said Lambrick principal Kevin Luchies.
Luchies said Conrod's milling business allows students to get a realistic idea of secondary manufacturing with the lumber industry before leaving high school. ItB次元官网网址檚 a valuable lesson in a tough economy.
B次元官网网址淩oger is taking a traditional subject and put a modern spin on it. Kids see the cost per board-foot, who is paying, and why itB次元官网网址檚 not as busy today as it was even three years ago,B次元官网网址� Luchies said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 cool to see the connection from the educational perspective. Connecting to the real world is laudable.B次元官网网址�
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