November 29, 2015
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What began as a donation of material to the Kincardine District Secondary School woodworking class, turned into a partnership in education, and has resulted in distinctive plaques for employers with the KDSS co-operative education program.
Dean Netzke, of D.J. Netzke Carpentry, Kincardine, generously donated a large quantity of various wood species that were then put to good use in the woodworking shop, says Michelle McIver, co-operative education teacher at KDSS.
Technology teachers Bryan Derksen and Greg Shipp co-ordinated student efforts to generate 40 wooden frames that will be delivered throughout the community to co-operative education employers as a gesture of gratitude for their support of student-learning in their workplaces.
Students were involved in the frame creation from design stage, gluing of the wood pieces, and use of the CNC router, to finishing and final assembly, says McIver.
The first finished frame was presented to Susan Catto and Rick Skinner, owners of Quinn Florist Ltd., by their cooperative education student, Kaitlyn MacKinnon. Kaitlyn is doing a half-day placement with Quinn Florist for career exploration in
the floral industry. Quinn noted that Quinn Florist Ltd. has hosted co-op students for more than 20 years.
"Co-operative education relies heavily on community support," says McIver. "KDSS has had more than 150 different employers participate as educational partners over the decades, hosting KDSS students and giving them the opportunity for career exploration and to develop workplace skills.
"The wooden frames project was an excellent opportunity to make use of this donation by Netzke, (who was a co-operative education employer himself), to represent the gratitude of KDSS students in the community. The frames will continue to be
distributed to co-operative education employers this school year."
Written ByLiz Dadson is the founder and editor of the Kincardine Record and has been in the news business since 1986.
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