Photo from the Fairview High School Facebook page.

By Curtis Galbraith

Schools

“Beautiful partnership” means industrial arts classes continuing at Fairview High School

Oct 27, 2021 | 6:00 AM

A need for an industrial arts teacher has led to a new arrangement between Fairview High School and the community’s campus of Grande Prairie Regional College.

GPRC instructors are teaching high school courses at the college’s facilities.

School Principal Shannon Fraser says not having an industrial arts program was a possibility if what she refers to as “a beautiful partnership” had not come about.

“An industrial arts teacher is like a unicorn, they’re really hard to find because if you’ve been in industry, you make better money than a teacher,” she explained.

“Not a lot of people go back to being a teacher and if they did go first to be a teacher and then got into industry, they probably aren’t going back to the classroom.”

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Fraser says this all came about after a long-time industrial arts teacher retired and a plan for a replacement fell through at the last minute.

She adds the students get to use facilities at the college, which Fraser describes as “incredible.”

“Up until this point, kids are really, almost encouraged to go outside of town and go to college somewhere else, but really, at the heart of everything, (I) want kids to see (what) Fairview has,” she said.

“They don’t need to go anywhere. They can live at home; they can take college programs here. There is just such an amazing opportunity in our backyard to go to GPRC in Fairview.”

Fraser says what is being taught changes every month.

The school year started with carpentry. They are currently studying welding with mechanics and plumbing coming next. Every student at the school cycles through industrial arts. The last student count came in at 268.

Students also have a chance to earn what are called dual credits, where high school kids earn credits that count towards their first year of learning a trade. It would also make the process of becoming a journeyman faster.

Fraser adds she is also glad to see a mix of men and women as the instructors.

“They get to see that trades are not just a man’s world. There are women involved with trades and there are many, many opportunities for women to get involved in multiple industries within the trades. So, that’s exciting too.”

Fraser says this is not a temporary fix, but one that could last several years.