On my way to being a pro

[deereman75]

First, Im sorry I have been away for a while (again :ashamed I have joined another forum, and have been busy there for a bit. Anyways, I am sure I will be spending a lot more time here.

Now onto the news. I am still in the application stage right now, but if all goes to plan, I will be starting my welding apprenticeship in feb 2014. This is a program through my highschool intended to start the next generation of tradesmen. Basically, I spend half my grade 11 year, and part of my summer doing my first apprenticeship. I make the apprentice salary, and my highschool pays for all my tradeschool costs.

Here in BC, the welding apprenticeship is a bit differnt. Instead of having 3 years as an apprentice, then becoming a journeyman, we have 3 levels of journeyman. First year is a C ticket, second a B, and third the A ticket. You are actually a journeyman after your first year, but you cant get extra qualifications until later years.

Anyways, if all goes to plan, I will be a journeyman weldor in augest 2014! Just thought this would be a cool note to come back on, I will be here a lot trying to suck up all the knowledge I can before I start tradeschool. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me, I go into grade 12 already having my ticket, the school pays for it, and it counts towards my graduation credits, and my overall mark.

 

[Shield Arc]

Hey kid you've been missed! Glad you plan to stick around.:thumbsup:

New member here Arc weld lives in Alberta, and he went through an apprenticeship. Very knowledgeable weldor, I'm sure he will be able to give you some pointers.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/welding/274798-new-member.html

 

[Arc weld]

Thanks Shield Arc! It's a little different in Alberta. You can go through a RAP program in high school and work in a shop part days and on summer break as well I think. The hours are credited to your apprenticeship. When I worked at the mall we had a RAP student. He came a couple years. Sadly I heard from one of the other welders I worked with at the mall, that the RAP student had been killed in a car accident. He was a real good kid and sure proud of his fancy new Miller helmet. He polished it and put it in the bag at the end of every day. I teased him that the helmet wouldn't make him a better welder. He knew I was just kidding with him. He was a witness when I went through all the BS at the mall and wanted to come to my defense when I met with HR and the idiot manager. Oddly, no one else was to come to the meeting.

Registered Apprenticeship Program

The Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) is an apprenticeship program for high school students.

Traditionally, apprenticeships in Alberta began after students graduated from high school, however, some students identify their career interests at an earlier age and are ready to learn and practice their future trade while in high school. RAP is an ideal program for these students.

RAP students are both full-time students and registered apprentices, dividing their time between an approved work site and their high school studies. They take regular courses, such as English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Mathematics in order to earn their Alberta High School Diploma or Certificate of Achievement.

The time a RAP student spends at school and on the work site can be quite flexible. The student, school and employer jointly agree on a suitable schedule. The student might work as a RAP apprentice for a semester, for half of each school day, or for one or two days per week, or during summers, holidays and weekends.

The RAP apprenticeship ends when the RAP apprentice finishes high school. The RAP apprentice is then automatically registered as a regular apprentice and the credit earned while in the RAP program is applied to his or her apprenticeship through the apprenticeship program.