DSBN Baking Apprentice Collecting Gold Medals!

On Thursday, March 1st, the District School Board of Niagara entered the Niagara Invitational High School Cook-Off. The Annual Cook-Off is held at Niagara College and hosts teams from across southern Ontario in a Culinary Competition and a Baking Competition.



This year at the Cook-Off, Jocelyn Bradley of Fort Erie Secondary School brought back a GOLD medal for the DSBN! Jocelyn won Gold last year at the DSBN Challenges as well as the Gold at Skills Canada – Ontario, and was the Baking representative for TEAM ONTARIO at the 2006 National Skills Competitions in Halifax. Jocelyn went back in the ring again on March 2nd, competing in the DSBN Baking Challenge, which was also held at Niagara College – Glendale Campus. Good luck Jocelyn!

back to top

Skills For Life!

Boyd Jansen is building a great future for himself. The 17 year old, South Lincoln High School student is pursuing a career as a General Carpenter and very soon he will be adding a completed home build to his already quite impressive resume.

Boyd is one of 18 students from the District School Board of Niagara who were selected to participate in the Specialist High Skills Major–Construction house build project. The project is a partnership between Phelps Homes and the District School Board of Niagara and allows these18 students to earn secondary school credits while working on the construction site all day, every day.

The District School Board of Niagara is one of three provincial pilot sites delivering a Specialist High Skills Major in Construction. The Specialist High Skills Major includes the delivery of sector recognized certifications including WHMIS, First Aid and Fall Protection.

Boyd was selected for this program partly based on his resume—which included previous experience through summer and part-time jobs working with a renovation company and a tile setter. In these jobs, Boyd explains that he did a lot of cleaning up and observing the work being done. The Specialist High Skills Major–Construction project has enabled Boyd to demonstrate the skills he is learning. Over the next few weeks, he and his follow students will be putting the finishing touches on the semi-detached home in Beamsville that they have built from the foundation up.

“It is so much more than being in a school.” says Boyd “It is learning hands-on knowledge. It is more physically demanding, but also more rewarding.”

In addition to credits and industry-recognized certifications, Boyd has been signed to an Apprenticeship as a General Carpenter through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP). Boyd is very eager to pursue his post-secondary education through Apprenticeship and then start his own business.

“[The Specialist High Skills Major in Construction] gives us the opportunity to see the processes. We learn how to calculate the volume of concrete, for example. Then we see the process and really understand why we learned that calculation.”

Boyd’s parents are thrilled that he was selected for the Specialist High Skills Major–Construction project. Boyd has always been able to earn good grades in school but he had a hard time maintaining interest when sitting in traditional classroom situations. Boyd always excelled at the practical project work in any subject.

Boyd reflects on his experience, “I look a lot more closely at details – how the trim is cut, how straight the walls are – and I know what I am looking for.”


This experience has opened a number of new doors to Boyd. In addition to starting his post-secondary education through Apprenticeship, Boyd will be attending College one day/week during second semester to explore career building and business related courses, which he hopes will help him start his own business. Attending college for one day a week will enable Boyd to continue with his OYAP training 4 days a week through an all day Co-op placement.

Boyd enthusiastically concludes, “I would definitely recommend this program!”

back to top

Skilled Trades Success Story - Frank Stronach

“He was a tool and die apprentice who left war-ravaged Austria in 1954 with a one-way boat ticket and $40 in his pocket.  In 1957, after three years of picking up golf balls, washing dishes in a hospital and working as a machinist, Stronach and his friend Tony Czapka opened their own tool and die business.  By 1959, Stronach and business partner Burt Pabst acquired their first auto parts contract - 300,000 sun visor brackets for General Motors.  As a result of the 1965 Auto Pact and Stronach's business savvy, more than 40 years later Magna International is a global automotive empire that employs 50,000 people and sells $14 billion in auto parts.  Last year alone, Stronach himself made over $26 million.”

back to top