Shadow Minister Visits Woodwork Camp

The Woodworks Carpentry Training Centre is hosting a summer programme for students aged 13 and up during June, July and August at their training centre in Southside, St David’s. The camp was run by Mr. Alma Hunt and his partner Mr. Quinton Burrows, and as the summer programme came to its conclusion on Friday, the group had a visit by Shadow Education Minister Lovitta Foggo.

“As the Shadow Minister of Education, I wanted to see firsthand the operation of this vocational camp”, Ms. Foggo said. “I was delighted to observe that there were 7 young adolescents in attendance who were all male. What was outstanding was the rapt attention they applied to their projects, in spite of it being their first exposure to carpentry.

“When speaking with the students they were readily able to identify tools and the skills they had to use in order to have success. The youngest, Ayr Cannonier explained that he had to measure, drill, learned the technique of hammering nails and realised that knowing mathematics, especially fractions, was important and was a fun way to learn math. All the students said that learning math this way made it relevant.

“Mr. Hunt shared that his desire to have this vocational camp is to introduce youngsters very early to the rewards of being involved in a trade like carpentry. He exclaimed that he was pleasantly surprised with the students excellent conduct, maturity level and ability they displayed. He reiterated that the impetus behind offering this camp was to provide a look into what carpentry entails and he hopes that through his camp he can encourage young men to build a career in this field.

“Mr. Burrows expressed his concern that carpentry, a trade in years past which has supported families very well and continues to do so presently, seems to have lost favour with many young ones today. He continued stating this as the reason why he was eager to join Mr. Hunt in offering this camp.

“He said he wants to pass his experience on. Mr. Burrows, too, was pleased with attention and performance of the students. As the Shadow Minister of Education, I explained how interactive education is crucial in engaging students, particularly young boys, and that this camp provides a welcomed and much needed niche in our educational system.

“I thanked both the students and instructors for their service and encouraged them to continue with this project. I invite young women to participate in this camp as well, because as the young men have realised, building something and knowing that you did it yourself, is satisfying, rewarding and motivating. All the boys said they would attend this camp again,” added Ms. Foggo.

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