Women in Trades students help house winged wildlife

By College Relations | May 9, 2019
           

Okanagan College Media Release

Okanagan College Women in Trades Training (WITT) students joined forces with Elementary students to help house some of the busiest builders in the community who work around the clock, day and night.

Grades 4-6 students at Peter Greer Elementary stepped outside of the classroom for a day to learn about the bats and the bees from WITT students. Together they built four bat houses with nurseries, and one large bee pollinator hotel. The residences will be placed in the green space surrounding Peter Greer, helping meet the ecological needs of creatures in risk of endangerment.

“Our Grade 4-6 students have been spending a lot of time outside focusing on ecological literacy,” says Clint Maltais, a teacher at Peter Greer. “The kids are really passionate about animals and wanted to do something that would actually help the environment. We knew we needed help.”

There are great efforts in the Central Okanagan in supporting bee and bat conservation, and the teachers and students at Peter Greer were eager to get the WITT students involved.

“This is a great opportunity for the WITT students to be mentors, and to apply what they’ve learned so far in the program,” says Nancy Darling. “It’s empowering for these women to share their skills and build confidence that they can take those skills forward into the workplace.”

This isn’t the first time that Okanagan College’s Trades and Apprenticeship department has supported the community and mentored youth along the way: they built the bunny hutches at Warren Peace, and they’re currently building locker rooms for the OC Coyotes basketball teams.

“The community has supported our program since inception,” says Steve Moores, Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship. “Returning that favor and playing a prominent role in our community is important to us.”

Amanda Gilbank is one of the WITT students who helped.

“The kids were all amazing to work with and eager to learn,” says Gilbank. “It’s great to be able to teach them to build something that is helping the environment and then watching how proud they become when they see what they’ve built.”

There were lots of happy faces and enthusiastic learners, some of whom are already thinking about a future in Trades.

“I really liked having the chance to saw and hammer away at something,” says
Grade 4 student Ryder Atherton. “I want to go to Okanagan College one day…maybe become a mechanic or something.”

WITT offers a Gateway to the Building Trades for Women program that allows women to explore each skilled trade before deciding which is the best fit for them.

For more information visit: okanagan.bc.ca/witt
.

 




TOP STORIES

RELATED STORIES

Sign up for weekly stories




Trending

Communications student standing outside the Centre for Learning building at the Kelowna campus
Meet Ruth Gabriela Melo Flores

April 4, 2023

Q: What's your name? A: Ruth Gabriela Melo Flores Q: What's your hometown? A: Quito – Ecuador – South America Q: How did you end up at Okanagan College? A: Well, I studied for a bachelor's degree in Law in Ecuador. Then, I worked for a while and got my Master's degree in Government and Culture of Organizations at the University of Pamplona.  When I returned to my country, professional opportunities arose for me. I mean, a Master's degree improved my career. Spain helped ...

Read more...
Animation student
Artistic students design future careers in animation

June 7, 2022

Grads of Okanagan College’s Animation Diploma program are finding their skills have never been in higher demand. First- and second-year students showed samples of their artwork and demo reels to industry partners at OC’s annual Animation Industry Night on May 17. “Lots of the work was very professional,” says James Wood, Chair of Okanagan College’s Animation Department. “Our program is short, but intense. The instructors make sure the students have a realistic understanding of what they need do to succeed in a competitive and demanding...

Read more...
JAMK campus
OC Business students embrace international study again

May 30, 2022

Business students from Okanagan College are once again able to travel to Jyväskylä, Finland to experience an international summer school at the JAMK University of Applied Sciences.  Finland’s education system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world.  OC Business Professor Blair Baldwin, who has taught Services Design at JAMK for several summers, says working in Finland has helped him innovate and create new teaching methodologies. “JAMK employs experiential learning across its curriculum,” he says. “They stress cri...

Read more...
Enactus 2022
Enactus Okanagan College tops the field, sets sights on national championships

May 27, 2022

Okanagan College students will once again be competing for the Canadian title after qualifying for the Enactus National Exposition with a first-place finish in their league during the semi-final round. Enactus teams at post-secondary institutions across Canada competed virtually earlier this month, and Okanagan College scooped up top position in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, and runner-up in the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge for the Unusually Good Food Co. project. It also included national runner-up in Shaw and RBC accelerator...

Read more...