The Windsor Electrical Contractors Association is stepping up to help support students with an eye on a future as an electrician.
On Thursday, the association delivered a $20,000 donation to the Catholic Central High School Electrical Academy to support the purchase of training materials and equipment.
Another $5,000 worth of materials was also donated to the program at the school at 2465 McDougall St. in Windsor.
Executive Director of the Windsor Electrical Contractors Association, Jim Kennedy, says these programs are an important step to help students seek a career in skilled trades.
"If you go back to the period of time when they eliminated high schools like W.D. Lowe, there was nothing; there was a complete void for any type of skilled trade," he says. "This coming back on, especially with the demand, especially in construction, for skilled trades to replace the people retiring, is very important."
Teacher-consultant for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and the Skilled Trades Academy, Corey McAiney, says it's a monumental day for the board to receive this support.
"Electrical was the newest division of our academies that we started. For the Windsor Electrical Contractors Association to step up right away, approach us and say, 'e'd like to help' by putting tools and materials in our students hands to get them better trained. They're also taking some of our students for co-op, the first time ever this year. It's been a huge success and life-changing for our students," he says.
McAiney says the program at Catholic Central is already full for the next school year.
"We're starting our second campus in Villanova in September. The most you can have is six sections, and they have six full sections. That's even before the first class is run; that's the demand out there," he says.
Students enrolled in the electrical academy get the chance to earn several industry-recognized certifications and also take part in the Windsor-Essex Habitat for Humanity home build and projects.