With the snip of a shear Julia Scheuer makes the hair stylist apprenticeship program look easy.
The 18-year-old is straight out of Claremont high school this year but has already built up her client bank, or regulars, where she cuts and styles hair at the Copa Hair Studio and Spa in Feltham Village. She started there in 2015, as a Grade 10 student, and has now earned all 3,600 hours of work-based training towards the 3,600 hours she needs to earn a red seal trade certificate as a hair stylist.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 what I wanted to do since I was a kid,B次元官网网址� Scheuer said. B次元官网网址淚 was one of 10 grandchildren but I was the one who followed my grandmother around her hair salon whenever I visited.B次元官网网址�
Scheuer is one of 16 students enrolled in Saanich School District 63B次元官网网址檚 program, said Stu Rhodes, the districtB次元官网网址檚 apprenticeship co-ordinator. Funding comes from the provincial Industry Training Authority which invested $280,000 on the Island for 2017-18, $20,000 of that going to Greater Victoria SD61 and another $30,000 to SD63.
The goal is to steer more high school students into the trades, an area of great demand in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 economy.
B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址here couldnB次元官网网址檛 be a better time to get into trades than now,B次元官网网址� said Doug Podetz, an ITA apprenticeship advisor.
As a fresh faced 16-year-old hair stylist, the experience quickly emboldened ScheuerB次元官网网址檚 social confidence.
B次元官网网址淧eople recognized that I was young so I had to step up my confidence, itB次元官网网址檚 a big part of being a hair stylist, that relationship with the client,B次元官网网址� Scheuer said.
While SD63 has its own Studio 63 teaching salon in the Keating area, there are a variety of trades available.
In West Saanich, 17-year-old Miles Gillespie buzzes through 2x4s with a skill saw on a Monday morning while others are in class. The apprentice carpenter is framing up a new wall for a walk-in closet in his bossB次元官网网址檚 house.
B次元官网网址淚t just so happens my boss [Geoff Matthias of Phoenix Carpentry] is doing a reno in his own home but IB次元官网网址檝e been working with him for two years,B次元官网网址� Gillespie said.
A former StellyB次元官网网址檚 student, Gillespie transferred to Claremont this year and has a flexible school schedule to keep him in the workplace.
Once students complete their first 120 hours Rhodes suggests the employer pay them, if they arenB次元官网网址檛 being paid already.
B次元官网网址漌ork experience placements allow students to sample the nature of the work and the culture of the workplace,B次元官网网址� Rhodes said.
In GillespieB次元官网网址檚 case, heB次元官网网址檚 also at about 1,500 hours towards his work-based training hours, though a carpentry certificate demands more than 6,000.
While Scheuer is a lot closer to getting her red seal, sheB次元官网网址檚 also looking past hair styling to whatB次元官网网址檚 next and is studying a separate program at Camosun College.
B次元官网网址淕etting a trade ticket isnB次元官网网址檛 a sentence to a life in that career,B次元官网网址� Rhodes said. B次元官网网址淪cheuer has a paying job, sheB次元官网网址檚 making money while she studies.B次元官网网址�
