durhamregion.com This Week | |Thursday, August 11, 2022 | 26 13 Prince Rupert Dr. One Of A Kind Custom Home On a 1.44 Acre Ravine Lot In an Exclusive Estate Enclave. 4+1 Bedrooms & 5.5 Bathrooms - Private Backyard Oasis w/ Heated I/G Pool, Hot Tub, Pool House w/Kitchen, Dining & Bathroom, Fully Landscaped Patio, Front & Backyard, Spring Fed Pond, 4 Season Glass Solarium Overlooking the Rolling Ravine Lot & Stream. Open Concept Floor Plan With 9' Ceilings, Hardwood & Porcelain Floors Throughout, Finished Basement w/walkout, Custom Wine Room and So Much More... $2 ,59 9,0 00 905 - 240 -5001 www.belmonterrealestate.com belmonterealestate@gmail.com On a hot July morning, students are taking a freezie break outside Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa before they head back inside to suit up and get welding. School isn't in session -- this group of 13 to 15 year- olds is taking part in a new welding camp offered by the Durham Catholic District School Board. The free camp joins a long list of summer options at the board, from hairstyling and esthetics camp, to cooking camp and arts camps. Students say it's a chance to get hands-on with tools in a way they haven't before, and it has them thinking about future career paths. "I wanted to try something new and maybe after taking on this course I can have an occupation that includes welding," says Sabrina D'Souza, 13, who is considering a career in engineering or something to do with cars. "I've always wanted to be an electrical engineer," says Dominik Matelski, 13, who asked his parents to sign him up for the camp. "I really appreciate all the teachers, they're really nice." Students work on different welding projects each day, from stamped dog tags to lawn ornaments. There are safety talks, demonstrations and lots of math and science content woven in. "This is science come alive," says Vince Sorbilli, a DCDSB technological education teacher who teaches the welding camp. "I get to talk to them about how electrons flow, what is electricity, how voltage is different than amperage, what is an inert gas ... this is why we do science. To make stuff, to go places." One day a week, Katherine Tudor, a welding instructor at Durham College, joins the class to speak about her apprenticeship journey and share her knowledge. "What we're trying to promote in our board is interest early, in a very hands-on way working with community partners," says Stephen Hughes, student success co-ordinator at the DCDSB. "If you capture their interest early, then the apprenticeship field might be a first choice career for them." Officials say spaces for the three weeks of welding camp filled up faster than any of the board's other summer offerings. The welding camp is a continuation of a partnership between the school board and the Canadian Welding Foundation, Ontario Power Generation, Black&McDonald and UA Locals 46 and 401, which brought new welding facilities to four DCDSB high schools. Also new this summer, the DCDSB is partnering with Ontario Tech University and Queen's University to offer a specialized STEM camp for Black youth in Grades 7 to 9. Students in the program have made bottle rockets, coded a traffic light, extracted minerals from vegetables, conducted water filtration experiments and built structures and bridges. "The camp is exposing students to career pathways in science, technology, engineering, and math that they may not have considered before attending the camp," says Chevoy Hickey, a coach advocate with the DCDSB. Students in the STEM camp also have the opportunity to go to Queen's University from Aug. 2 to 5 and stay on campus in residence, tour the school, meet with staff and learn about opportunities available to them. DURHAM CATHOLIC INTRODUCES FREE WELDING CAMP NEWS Vince Sorbilli assisted Elliot Anderson with plasma cutting during a new summer camp in partnership with the Canadian Welding Foundation and the Durham Catholic District School Board. Jason Liebregts/Metroland 'I WANTED TO TRY SOMETHING NEW,' SAYS SABRINA D'SOUZA, 13 JILLIAN FOLLERT jfoller t@durhamregion.com