An article in the Calgary Herald discusses the upcoming WorldSkills Competition and the contribution of its chairman, Guy Mallabone. Mallabone says, “There are a lot of young people out there who like to work with their hands or in the arts.” The event, with a budget of $55 million (Canadian) is hosted in part by SAIT Polytechnic, of which Mallabone is vice-president of external relations.

Mallabone is passionate about the skilled trades and about the need to change some societal perceptions so that young people in the skilled trades do not “feel like they’re second class.”

Mallabone tells a personal story: “In my daughter’s Grade 9 class, the school pulled together the parents and the principal spoke to us. She spoke about considering a career after high school and to carefully choose your courses. And she said, ‘As you prepare for your university journey’ and I stood up and said, ‘Do you mean post-secondary journey?’ and she was embarrassed and said, ‘of course,’ but the word being used was university. Our society can’t sustain that elitist outlook.”

You can read more about Mallabone and WorldSkills Calgary.

November 3rd to 7th is a week set aside to honour skilled trades, with special events in cities and towns across Canada.

The launch will be held November 3rd in Ottawa at Les Jardins de la Cité, Pavillon H, La Cité Collégiale, in Ottawa. Students from the Ottawa area are invited to join Annie Beauregard, a Team Canada 2007 World Skills bronze medalist, Stacy DuBois of Team Canada 2009, along with representatives from the Canadian Hospitality and Service Industry.

Events from across the country will include “Skills at the Park” in Queens Park, Toronto, which will honour seven Ontario entrants in World Skills 2009.

November 3-7, events will be held at colleges and trade schools across Ontario. These will include two events in Burlington, Ontario, where The Centre for Skills Development & Training is holding two open house events. There is an open invitation to all interested parties (especially trade school students, other youth and their parents) to drop by the centre November 6th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm to find out more about the skilled trades. On Friday November 7, from 12:30-2:30 p. m., teams will battle in a friendly trades competition.

November 3rd, in Edmonton, Alberta, a Cardboard Road race will be held at NAIT. On November 4th, members of the Alberta World Skills team will be introduced in the Alberta Legislature.

November 6th in Newfoundland, a skilled trades luncheon will be held at the College of the North Atlantic’s “College Day”.

November 3rd in PEI, at the UPEI Field House, there will be a hands-on event called Career Options PEI.

November 3rd in Manitoba, there will be a Model Wind Turbine Competition at Red River College in Winnipeg.

These are just a few of the events and times. Check your local news for more events or see skillscanada.com.

Less than a year from now, “the Olympics of skilled trades” will be underway in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at WorldSkills 2009. Over a thousand trade school students and graduates along with 5000 delegates from over 50 countries will descend on the world class city in the foothills of the Rockies. Events will range from culinary arts to carpentry to computer-aided design and everything in between.

And the hosts are definitely looking forward to it. WorldSkills 2009 will be “a terrific opportunity for Calgarians to see supremely talented individuals from around the world showcasing their skills in a competitive arena,” says the chair of Chair of WorldSkills Calgary 2009, Guy Mallabone.

The skills competition will be using Calgary Stampede Park. Over 150,000 spectators are expected to watch various events. 30,000 motel rooms have been reserved in anticipation of the influx of people from around the world. WorldSkills is about two thirds the size of the Vancouver Olympics and will be bigger than the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

While the scale is “Olympian,” the true value of competition ought to be seen as far more important. “Like the Olympics, we are playing host to the world – unlike the Olympics we are completely focused on skills that contribute to the economy and an individual’s employability in a global market,” says Richard Walker, President and CEO of WorldSkills Calgary 2009. He added that Calgary ought to be very proud to host this event, last held in Tokyo and next being held in London (2011). “This is the ‘big show’ when it comes to exhibiting global talent in technology and skilled trades.”

Want to know more?

-   The first competition was held in 1950 in Madrid, Spain. Canada last hosted the WorldSkills Competition in Montréal in 1999 at the Olympic Stadium.
-   Every two years, over 1,000 competitors from 50 member countries/regions gather to compete in over 48 skill categories ranging from welding, cooking, auto body repair and landscape gardening to beauty care and web design.
-   The competition attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors including public policy makers, government representatives, employers, teachers, trainers and experts from around the world.

To learn more go to http://www.worldskills2009.com

In Kansas City, they were sweating.

“You know what’s happening in my stomach right now?” area trade school instructor and coach H.R. Thomas asked. “If you were in there, you’d be screaming to get out.”

The convention in Kentucky has grown every year, so much that Skills USA has decided to move the venue to Louisville from its current Kansas City location. The convention is the largest of its kind in the area, drawing nearly 10,000 registrants.

All across the country, Skills USA held weeklong competitions.

Meanwhile in Georgia, trade school students were cheering

One of the toughest competitions had to be in criminal justice. Roswell, GA’s Holly Groover from Centennial High School took home the high school gold. Meanwhile, post-secondary web design gold was won by Illinois Central College.

Don Roberts of the Excelsior Springs Area Career Center said SkillsUSA “teaches leadership abilities, how to work within a team with others, and how to compete. We have kids who come to us who won’t look you in the eye and will barely speak to you. After they’ve been through this program, they develop confidence and ability, and some will become leaders of the school.”

Thomas agreed: “I’ve had students come back five years later and tell me they got their job because they had SkillsUSA on their resume, and the other applicants didn’t.”

To read about all the winners go to the Skills USA website.

To learn more about criminal justice view our criminal justice schools.

There are some inspiring stories of pioneering women in skilled trades and other stories that’ll get you pumped to make the jump to trade school in this article about the Oregon Tradeswomen’s 16th annual Women in Trades career fair. The story is here.

At the booth for the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks at the 29th annual Washington Women in Trades Career Fair, you can learn all about green jobs. There are numerous opportunities coming up in the green economy and jumping in to the fray is a great way to secure a firm career and make the world a better place.

The Washington Women in Trades Career Fair takes place Friday May 2nd, this year. Admission is free. The fair include over 80 exhibits from recruiters, employers, apprenticeship programs and working tradeswoman. Some of the hands-on activities will include fun with power tools and a utility pole climbing area.  As well, some of the original Rosies will be on hand.

To learn more, visit www.wawomenintrades.com.

The Canadian federal Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has pledged to contribute $13.4 million to the WorldSkills Competition in Calgary in 2009.  Minister of Human Resources Monte Solberg announced the money at a press conference, saying, “The Government of Canada is committed to creating the best educated, most skilled, and most flexible work force in the world. Our partnership with WorldSkills Calgary 2009 will showcase the talents of Canada’s young skilled work force. It will also ensure that more Canadians consider opportunities in the skilled trades and technologies, and will encourage more business that depend on skilled workers to invest in Canada.”

Over 900 competitors from 48 different countries are expected to invade Calgary to compete for medals in 40 skilled trades categories.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Trade School World, from the Trade UP! We are off doing family stuff and will return in a few days’ time.

You can get your Rosie the Riveter calendar “Strength, Grace, Courage” for $25, online at wa.womenintrades.com. Other locations can be found on the Web site. All proceeds from the sale of the calendar go to Washington Women in Trades, a volunteer organization begun in 1978 to support women working in non-traditional jobs.

Did you know that the original Rosie was a woman named Rose Will Monroe, a Ford employee who built B-24 and B-29 bombers in Michigan? That’s one of the tidbits you’ll find in a great story profiling Rosie and interviewing some of the original Rosies here:

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2007/12/17/news/local_news/news04.txt

Zoo Weekly, an Australian men’s magazine (kind of like an Aussie version of FHM or Maxim) has announced its “sexiest tradeslady” winner. Hayley Reid is a site assistant at a navy base and a trade assistant at an oil refinery named who also appears on an Aussie TV show, Jack Of All Trades. Although Reid was obviously attractive enough to win the award and to pose in the magazine wearing a bikini, on a day-to-day basis she’s a serious tradeswoman: “Every day I wear long sleeves and long pants, steel-capped boots, a hard hat and safety glasses.”