By Contributed by - Garrett Simmons Lethbridge School District No. 51 Communications Officer

LCI students wrap up week-long job shadow at Southland International

Jan 27, 2017 | 1:21 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  call it a reward for three days of hard work.

On Thursday afternoon, 10 students from Lethbridge Collegiate Institute had the opportunity to tour the Kirkham Collection, a sprawling display of rare, antique vehicles.

Southland International Trucks Ltd. Owner George Kirkham toured students through the facility, as the students took a well-deserved break from their week-long job-shadow program at Southland, a local service, sales, rental and leasing heavy-equipment dealer.

Since Monday, students have been spending each day at Southland, with the exception of one morning spent at Lethbridge College, to take part in a program which is a joint venture between LCI and Lethbridge School District No. 51’s Off-Campus Education.

“The biggest thing has been giving them a very wide experience, and giving them a lot of things to do,” said Rob Mitchell, Southland’s service manager, who added students have worked with vehicle electrical systems, learned about the off-truck communications systems, gone through the process of diagnosing issues with a truck, delved into how the parts and service departments work together and have even learned a little about what makes for good customer service.

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Mitchell added while high schools have made strides in terms of introducing students to the trades, there is one major piece missing.

“One thing I see is there is a lack of knowledge of what is happening in the background at these businesses. There is a whole other aspect of the business in terms of accounting, parts, sales and rentals.”

Students also worked in the trailer-maintenance department, spent time pulling tires off of rims and received an overall education into what goes on behind the scenes at Southland.

“It was probably a big shock for them,” said Mitchell. “They didn’t realize how in-depth it was.”

Mitchell was also hopeful the idea of a business partnership with a local high school would catch on.

“We’re trying to encourage other companies to follow suit, and get other companies to build on this format,” said Mitchell, who along with Kirkham, both attended LCI as students.

LCI students will earn two credits with their participation in the program.

Everything wrapped up Friday with a classroom session, as Mitchell, Kirkham and Southland salesman Murray Jensen peppered the students with questions about what they learned. Mitchell added they also touched on technology on Friday, which  included some of the exciting developments the students will likely see with trucks in the near future.

It was an intensive week for the LCI students, most of whom are in Grade 11 this year. Mitchell added it is his hope the job-shadow experience will help the students gain a little clarity in terms of what they might want to do after graduation.

“Hopefully now by Grade 12, they will have a better direction of what they want to shoot for in the future.”

It was an initiative the college was also excited to join.

“It’s a very interesting partnership,” said Oliver Twizell, Development Officer at Lethbridge College. “I believe it’s the first time anything like this has been done. It is very unique.”

Tradespeople at the college provided training for the LCI students, who had the opportunity to tour the college’s trades facility, which Southland contributed $100,000 towards.

“Students will also gain valuable information through the college as to what requirements are needed for certain trades and the length of apprenticeship training that is required for select trades,” said Cory Hoffner, Construction Technology and Automotive Instructor at LCI . 

In the end, Mitchell added the partnership is a great example of three entities working together for the benefit of students.

“What I like about it is the collaboration with the college and District 51 and industry, with all three of us being involved.”

Hoffner is hopeful those partnerships can continue well into the future.

“I see the partnership between Southland International and Lethbridge College evolving over time to offer more of these types of courses to allow students an authentic hands-on learning experience,” he said. “Partnerships like these drastically improve school programs, as they create a foundation where students are exposed to industry standards.”

Andrew Krul, the District’s Off-Campus Education facilitator, added there is certainly an opportunity to offer similar types of programming in the future, as he mentioned the LCI-Southland partnership could set the table for the future.

“This is a wonderful way of finding out how we can make if more efficient in the future and how we can increase student learning going forward.”

As for this particular partnership, Hoffner added it will be great experience for his students.

“Ultimately, we are striving to build awareness of the trades through collaboration with industry and the college. We strongly believe this opportunity will provide students with an in-depth experience of how a company operates, and how the many departments work together in providing a service to its customers.”

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