Lakeland College was only one of two colleges in the province to offer full-time, face-to-face trades training for its apprentices and pre-employment students at the start of the academic year.

This continues to be the case into the second semester.

“We put a lot of work into bringing students on campus. With or without the pandemic, safety is a top priority in trades. With the direction of Lakeland's COVID-19 committee, we changed our office, lab and classroom procedures to fall in line with the policies set out by the committee and the Provincial Health Authority. We came up with the idea of building barriers between student workspaces and were able to serve up to 20 students in each class,” says Dave King, dean of Lakeland's School of Trades and Technology.

Though the pandemic has affected some on-campus operations at the college, Lakeland remains committed to providing the highest quality educational experience possible, and the School of Trades and Technology is no exception.

Over the course of the first semester, they served 140 apprentices in automotive service technician, carpenter, electrician, heavy equipment technician, parts technician and welding, along with students in interior design technology, pre-employment, truck driver training and various con-ed programs.

“There was a little bit of apprehension at the beginning, but with the passion and perseverance of everyone throughout the college, a new sense of realization came to fruition and the ‘new normal' came to be second nature. Our staff is dedicated to reminding everyone every day to do their duty by filling out their assessments and wearing their masks,” says King. “I think our apprentices are appreciative that they had the opportunity to come to school and have their lessons face-to-face. We've been able to follow the curriculum as presented. We didn't have to deviate at all.”

According to James Nighttraveller, a heavy equipment technician (HET) apprentice, Lakeland has done a great job providing students with hands-on training in the safest manner possible.

“It's hard to picture trades training online. A computer screen can't replace the in-person experience, so I'm glad that Lakeland was able to give us that,” says Nighttraveller, who completed his first period of HET last semester. He says he plans on returning to Lakeland in March to continue his training.

Lakeland welcomed its second intake of apprenticeship students in January and will to continue to provide hands-on training to the next generation of journeypersons.

Photo: Heavy equipment technician apprentices during a lab.