CALGARY, Alberta - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau learned something about carpentry from students at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary when he dropped by the campus a month ago.
Trudeau seemed at ease nailing, drilling and finishing the cabinets, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to compare the project to his own recent work.
"I'm not much of a carpenter, but people have told me I'm pretty good at making cabinets," said Trudeau, working alongside fourth-year carpentry student Tristram Reeves-Rood.
Hundreds of SAIT students gathered to get a moment - and a selfie - with Trudeau, but only 16 students were selected to meet with him separately in one of SAIT's carpentry labs. Among them was Reeves-Rood. He said he didn't know what to expect when he was invited, but he was happy to be part of an event meant to promote the trades.
"It's very refreshing to meet the leader of your country and feel as though he's paying attention to what you're doing and that he wants to try and make a difference," says Reeves-Rood.
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SAIT offers a dual credit program that allow students to earn credits while finishing high school. In the newest —
the dual credit Pre-employment Carpentry program — students earn a certificate of completion and the opportunity to challenge the written and practical exams for first-year Carpentry Apprenticeship.
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