News release
College of the Canyons has received a $50,000 Dewalt Grow the Trades Grant to continue supporting the college’s construction technology program.
COC was selected as one of 70 organizations that are projected to skill and reskill more than 55,000 people in 2024 with the grant program’s support.
“This funding will allow the college to provide additional lab space by purchasing a CT1 carpenter trailer for the construction technologies pre-apprenticeship program,” Harriet Happel, dean of career education, integrative learning, and the Employment Center at the college, said in a news release.
A CT1 trailer is a self-contained mobile work trailer, planned to serve as a mobile learning lab specifically designed to train construction technology students, the release said.
Outfitted with tools, the trailer is a self-contained shop on wheels consisting of seven tool stations with saws, drills, tables, and an auxiliary station.
Through an existing relationship with the William S. Hart Union High School District, COC will use the mobile trailer to provide instructional lab space at Valencia High School for students to participate in the pre-apprenticeship program. Students will earn National Center for Construction, Education, and Research certifications and the preparatory skills for entry into the workforce or an apprenticeship for residential carpentry.
With an estimated 10 million global manufacturing jobs currently unfilled, Dewalt’s Grow the Trades Grants aim to help close the skilled labor gap by supporting nonprofit organizations that are skilling, reskilling and upskilling tradespeople. Each year, the program awards funding and tool donations as part of a larger $30 million commitment over five years.
The mobility of the learning labs will allow COC to bring the trailer to middle and high school recruitment fairs, and community outreach events where students can demonstrate hands-on learning for community projects. This project will provide students with new opportunities to use their skills, interact with others, and generate enthusiasm for potential future construction workers, the COC release said.
COC anticipates that the mobile learning lab will be ordered and built during the 2024-2025 academic year. The first cohort of high school students to use the learning labs, estimated at approximately 16 to 32 students annually, would commence during the fall 2025 semester. The following year, COC plans to expand the program into the evening for adult learners for an additional cohort of 16 to 32 students per year.
Ultimately, 64 students a year will participate in the program, with even more using the trailers and equipment through community outreach efforts.
For more information about COC’s construction technology program, go to www.canyons.edu/academics/construction/index.php.
