OCNews

Cale Tiessen 

Secondary School Teacher Candidate 
OC Program of Study: Recreation Vehicle Service Technician Apprenticeship (Red Seal), 2011–2014  

Following high school graduation, Cale went to work at his father’s company, KMS Tools, in Kamloops. There he managed the warehouse, eventually moving into the sales department. Cale moved on to pursue Red Seal certification through Okanagan College’s Recreation Vehicle (RV) Technician Apprenticeship program where he earned a bursary award during his foundation year. Cale’s teachers at Okanagan College, Jim Ingram, Adam Rosseel, and John Itterman, made a lasting impression, not only as teachers, but as great examples. From there, he began a career with Enterprise RV, working under the leadership of Darrin Grams, Ed Roelofs and Allan Stefanik. With the lessons learned in the RV industry, and newly married to his wife Naomi, the couple moved back to Kamloops where Cale managed his father’s tool company. Under his leadership, the franchise broke record sales.  After his father sold the company back to corporate, Cale left the company to work for Mr. Mobile RV. After working through the pandemic on RVs, Cale returned to KMS Tools, but this time as a consultant to the management team. Acknowledging the impact of strong professional examples along the way, his journey has led him down a new learning path. With the Red Seal certification earned from Okanagan College, Cale applied for the Bachelor of Education in Trades and Technology program through Thompson Rivers University. Now, in School District 73 as a teacher, Cale is inspired to set his own example for the adults of tomorrow on what it means to be a leader in the community.  

Highest level of education 

Bachelor of Education 

Describe your career experience and history 

I worked for my father at KMS Tools in Kamloops when I graduated high school, managing the warehouse. I then quit and got my small engine certification at TRU before the financial collapse of 2008, which saw me go back to work for KMS Tools, but this time on the sales team. After a few years of working in sales and making connections within the community, it was clear that I needed to find a way to get a Red Seal. That was the ticket that would open up all the doors, and it certainly has.  So if I was going to leave my fathers company permanently, I did not plan on staying in the same small town, so I moved to Kelowna. There I found work with Enterprise RV and forged a new family bond with coworkers that I still speak to this day. Between 2011 and 2017 I worked for Enterprise RV and worked towards my RV Tech Red Seal at OC. My wife and I would eventually start looking to buy a house and be apart of a community and now we reside in Chase, B.C., and over the last few years I have worked for Mr. Mobile RV and with the management transition team for KMS Tools after my father sold the company back to corporate.   

Describe your volunteerism and/or impact in your community 

Working as a teacher candidate over the last year has meant volunteering in all sorts of roles from Marshalling for the mountain bike club, to working with the South Kamloops Secondary Car Club.  

Achievement, honours or special recognitions you’ve received 

I did win a reward while at OC after my foundation year of RV Tech. I believe it was a $1,500 bursary, and at the time it meant the world to me.  Besides that, the only honours for work well done was every time KMS Tools Kamloops would break sales records under my management, but those are more achievements that are celebrated in private.  

Describe your personal achievements  (family life, pastimes, etc.) 

Finding the time to go out to the lake with my wife.  She has worked so hard as a nurse through the pandemic, and I have been stuck in a full time extensive Bachelor of Education program and I just miss going out with the best personal achievement of my life, which is my wife.