Wider Horizons

Lethbridge College’s plumbing labs, located in the Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility, is where students in the Plumber Apprenticeship program learn to go with the flow. The space gives apprentices the opportunity to practise all skills they need in their careers, from installing sinks, toilets and gas appliances to assembling pipes. Here’s what instructor Jeremy Bridge and two recent grads have to say about the program and the space where they learn.

“I decided to start my career in the trades after we started a family and I realized that I needed to provide a more stable life and career path. I always liked working with my hands and it seemed like a good fit for me. The plumbing lab was set up well and equipped to demonstrate a lot of the aspects of our job and all three instructors had different experiences in their careers and were able to bring something different to the program. There’s a lot of variety in the plumbing field and, between the equipment and tools in the lab paired with our instructors’ experience, we were able to cover a lot of bases.” - Jordan VanDerKooi Plumbing Apprenticeship 2020

“I was working in construction and got an opportunity to do a plumbing course, and I really enjoyed it and decided to apprentice in plumbing. At Lethbridge College, I learned things about service and commercial plumbing during my lab time that I wasn’t able to on the job. If I ever needed to ask a question or had troubles understanding something, the instructors, especially Logan [Fulwiler, chair of the Plumbing apprenticeship program], were always willing to give extra time and explain things in ways that made everyone understand what they were learning.” - Trystan Covey Plumbing Apprenticeship 2020

“Over the last few years, we’ve been able to add more instructors and more training, and we have a permanent space where we’re able to offer courses for the entire academic year. Our program has gone from more of a demonstration model to one where students can get the tools out and do it themselves, which is great because as tradespeople, we’re hands-on learners. We like to get in there and get dirty.” - Jeremy Bridge Instructor since 2016

Wider Horizons
Illustrated by Eric Dyck
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