Image from Lethbridge College

By Connor Gunn

College partners with Blood Tribe for training and skills show

Nov 3, 2021 | 6:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training (BTEST) show with the help of Lethbridge College will help spread the wealth of expertise available at the college.

This past summer, LC Extension worked with BTEST to run a pair of programs – an introduction to trades and construction program and a coding camp for high school students – to develop real-world skills for students from the Blood Tribe.

Jason Donkersgoed, Director of LC Extension says “Typically, what happens is a community organization like BTEST comes to us with a concept or an idea we help flesh out.”

“Once we have that and all the desired outcomes, we begin the process of pulling all the pieces together within the college, like finding the right instructors.”

This 21-week Introduction to Trades program taught students the essentials of construction, including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, drywall, framing, insulating, roofing, tiling, and painting.

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“Twelve students took part in the program on the Blood Reserve and, under the guidance of Lethbridge College instructor Roy Sugai, they worked together to build a 249-square-foot, one-bedroom home,” the release reads.

“We know our students require a lot of hands-on training, and this project was a perfect fit for them, as it really delved into all the aspects of construction,” says Wayna Beebe, BTEST Director. “It really helped them to take ownership of the project and gave them a good understanding of homebuilding from the ground up.”

The college says this summer, LC Extension, and BTEST also collaborated on a project that brought teens from the Blood Reserve to campus in Lethbridge for a two-week computer coding camp taught by instructors from the Virtual and Augmented Reality certificate program.

Donkersgoed says these two programs look to highlight the expertise at the college and how it can be leveraged to benefit the community at large.

“We have so much expertise here in each of our academic centers and in the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation,” he says. “What we’re trying to do [at LC Extension] is package those with the desired outcomes and competencies in a way that moves the needle. We’re very fortunate to be able to work with a fantastic organization like BTEST that wants to move their community forward in terms of skills development and employability.”

More information regarding BTEST is available on its Facebook page.

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