High school students are carving out a new understanding of what it means to help build a community through a special workshop. MicroPro Sienna Plus, Six Nations, Skills Ontario and the First Nations Metis Inuit Initiatives teamed up to give students a chance to learn carpentry skills this week on Six Nations of the Grand River. Approximately 20 First Nations students are measuring, cutting and building picnic tables under the guidance of Mi’kmaq carpenter and content creator Deneika Coakley. “When I was younger, I never saw anybody that looked like I did. A female, essentially, for the main part, but also being Indigenous,” Coakley said. “I never saw anybody that mirrored what I looked like when I was watching people build things.” She hopes she can help inspire others. “I love seeing all the kids get excited about it. I specifically love seeing females because we are so underrepresented in trades in general as females, but then also as Black Indigenous people of colour. You don’t hardly see that on TV – on anything really! So, for them to be able to see me, I really hope they’re like, ‘OK. If she can do it, I can do it,’” she said. Coakley grew up helping her grandfather build sail boats. She explored other careers, but returned to building about 12 years ago. She’s now a MicroPro Sienna ambassador and teaches people how to build through her YouTube and Instagram pages. “I loved bringing these things to life and I was never told, ‘You can’t do this.’ But I also never really felt like anyone told me that I could do it. So, I did esthetics, I did nursing, I did several different careers before essentially making a full circle back to building, which I’ve always loved,” she explained. Building new skills Xani Miller, a Hagersville Secondary School Student who is entering Grade 10, is one of the participants. “I want to do this, or maybe be an electrician,” Miller said. “Good money. And then, if you break something around the house, you don’t have to pay someone to do it. You can just fix it yourself.” The skills learned during the workshop may help take the students to places they dreamed of. “A lot of the students that showed up today, they didn’t get a summer job. So, it’s a good opportunity for them to get some exposure to the skilled trades that they might not normally have,” Jordan Myers, manager of Grand River Employment Training, said. “We’re hopeful that by them getting this hands-on experience, it can open their eyes up to the different types of trades that they can do.” The tables built during the course of the workshop will be donated to the community.
