Skilled Trades Camp for African Nova Scotian Youth

Instructor Adam Bartlett explains the welding trade to African Nova Scotian youth

The Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency in partnership with the Black Educators Association (BEA), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and Youth Initiatives (Skills and Learning Branch) hosted a five-day camp from July 11 – 15, 2022 for fourteen African Nova Scotian youth from the Preston-Cherry Brook areas who were interested in exploring and learning more about careers in the skilled trades.

The camp included a tour to the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council’s (NSCSC) Trades Exhibition Hall where participants learned about construction trades, followed by three days of hands-on welding at the NSCC Akerley campus where participants made dog tags and produced some of the easier-to-weld Adrinka symbols (historical and philosophical African symbols). The final day of the camp took place at the Black Cultural Centre (BCC) in Cherry Brook where they heard from a panel of three generations of ANS skilled trades professionals, consisting of: Chad Carrington, a Red Seal Carpenter; Sattina Dabb, a Welder apprentice; and Everill Armstrong, a retired Construction Electrician.

NSAA would like to thank the BEA, NSCC and NSCSC for making this opportunity possible for the youth who participated!