Getting his hands dirty under the hood of a car is common practice for an Oilfields High School graduand who’s on his way to becoming a certified mechanic.
Blake Paul is one of the school’s few students to participate in the Alberta Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
While earning credits in the program, Paul has been employed as an apprentice at automotive shops after school and on weekends to work towards his goal.
“I got a nice vehicle and I wanted to learn more about it and how to build my own truck and eventually rebuild an old engine,” he said. “ I wanted to do something in the trades.”
Inspired by his Dodge Ram 3500, Paul enrolled in RAP in Grade 11 and worked as an apprentice at Advantage Ford in Calgary as a lube technician doing oil changes and tire rotations.
“I get to use my hands which is nice,” he said. “You’ve got to figure out what’s wrong and diagnose it and fix the problem. You’re not sitting behind a desk, you’re working on something physical.”
Last September, Paul became employed at The Shop Turner Valley, where he’s worked on transmissions, transfer cases and bearings.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “My boss is a really good mechanic and he’s been working in the trade for a long time. I sometimes stay after work and get more experience.”
Not a fan of sitting at a desk for hours, Blake joined the school’s Quest program in Grade 10 where students participate in outdoor field studies while completing their course requirements.
“Most of the learning takes place on trips and in the wild,” he said. “My marks went up a lot in the Quest program because of the different way of teaching. There’s a lot of outdoor skills like reading a compass and map and navigation skills.”
In Grade 12, Paul returned to the regular stream for fear of getting behind in his core classes due to the many Quest outdoor activities.
“I didn’t want to be behind, plus I wanted to work every day after school,” he said.
Once he graduates, Paul will continue working at The Shop. This fall he will apply to the automotive service technician diploma program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Paul’s preference falls with the two-year diploma program rather than the apprenticeship program because it’s more hands on.
“You go to school in the morning and go to the shop in the afternoon,” he explained. “If you learn about transmissions in the morning you physically get to work on transmissions.”
The apprenticeship program is four years, said Paul, and requires students to attend school for eight weeks and then work the remainder of the year.
When it’s time for post-secondary school, Paul has a little help from the $1,000 Diamond Valley Chamber of Commerce scholarship he received at the school’s Black and Gold Awards ceremony earlier this month.
Paulette Morck, the school’s guidance counsellor, said usually only about three high school students take the apprenticeship program at one time.
She’s enjoyed watching Paul do so well with it.
“It’s impressive,” she said. “It’s pretty rare for a kid to graduate with more than 120 credits let alone 165. He just does what needs to be done.”
Morck said he’s a valuable asset to the school with not only his volunteer efforts, including being Santa Claus in a fundraiser for the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, but also being on various sports teams like rugby, badminton and golf. He also plays hockey with the High Country Rockies.
“Around school he is a kid that we can rely on,” she said. “He’s just a stand-up kid and he’s got a good heart.”
Morck is confident Paul will do well in his future endeavors.
“When it comes to his future I have no doubt that he’s going to be successful,” she said. “He’s the kind of guy people would trust with their car.
Also impressed with Paul is The Shop Turner Valley owner Tyler Smith.
“He has a mechanic ability,” he said. “He’s not doing it to make money, he’s doing it because he’s interested in vehicles and he wants to learn more.”
Smith said the shop often takes in teenage apprentices, but Paul really stands out.
“He’s more driven than most, making sure all the little jobs get done, even the ones you don’t want to do,” he said.
Paul said he would like to take his automotive skills to the next level one day by either going into heavy duty mechanics or opening a shop with a friend.
