HUGHENDEN, Alta. – High school industrial arts classes have been known as the place where students can churn out a wobbly wooden bench or a cracked ceramic hot plate for easy credits.
But at Hughenden Public School, the shop class has been taken over by keen students with an entrepreneurial bent.
There’s a steady stream of oil companies, farmers and historical societies wanting the metal signs produced by the student-run HPS Manufacturing.
“The people have bought into it and said ‘Yes, we’ll support it’,” vice-principal Vince Saretsky told a Rural Youth Conference tour of the shop.
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The project began five years ago, when then-shop teacher Paul Guenard asked his students what they wanted to do that fall. They told him they wanted to start a business.
The only guidelines established were the business must turn a profit and not compete with other local businesses. In the end the students settled on making indestructible metal signs that often mark old school districts, historic sites or farmyards.
Handle all aspects
The students just don’t churn out signs on an assembly line. They are in charge of design, sales and marketing.
On the wall are charts listing revenue and expenses, loan repayment schedules and weekly production goals. More importantly, the students are in charge of quality control, said the new shop teacher, Grant Collins.
It’s part of Grade 12 student Alan Demers’ job to keep an eye on the welding of the less experienced students.
“One of the guys messed up,” said Demers, referring to a weld a few minutes earlier.
“We don’t like it when things go out the doors that look like crap,” said Demers, of Czar, who was hired by a welding shop in Provost because of his experience with HPS Manufacturing.
Because of his experience in class he knows the importance of answering the phone professionally and asks the client specific questions about their job.
“I’m always thinking if it’s good or bad for business. It definitely gets you ready for the real world,” said Demers who comes into the shop during his spare to work overtime and “keep out of trouble.
“I think it’s a pretty awesome program.”
It’s Tyler Pearson’s third year with HPS Manufacturing. Like most farm boys, he grew up around welding equipment, but has learned a lot in his three years with the program.
“It’s been a blast. Before, I thought I knew a lot from our farm, but it’s amazing,” said Pearson, of Czar.
Pearson has worked as office manager with the program, operated the plasma arc cutter, a sophisticated electronic metal cutter, and has been a welder and foreman.
“It’s hard to give guys crap that are your friends,” said Pearson, who already knows he’ll take a combination welding and farrier course at Olds College in Olds, Alta., after graduation.
Getting students ready for a career after graduation is an important part of the program, said Saretsky, pointing to the students jumping in to help another student moving a heavy sign.
“How many classes can you take the teacher out and the class keeps going?”
They try to keep the profits from the program under $30,000 so they don’t have to pay GST. With the profit they buy more equipment for the program. As incentives to meet their weekly goals, they also buy pop, pizza and coveralls.
“They do a lot of setting targets,” said Collins.
