By Chad Polito
Special to Dawson
The COVID-19 pandemic brought together the entire community to collectively respond to emerging needs like food security. When Michael Clark, Assistant Centre Director of the Verdun Adult and Career Centre reached out to BGC Dawson regarding organizing a food drive this past holiday season, no one imagined that it would be the beginning of a new partnership.
The Verdun Adult and Career Centre (VACC) is an innovative learning Centre of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, offering vocational training programs such as Plumbing and Heating, General Building Maintenance, and Customer Service. With deep roots in the English-speaking community in Verdun since 1959, BGC Dawson is a safe and supportive community centre that offers a wide range of educational, recreational, and social programs.
“Education is the core of what we do,” explains Marie Rousseau, Director of Finance and Administration. “When we discovered all of the incredible programs that VACC had to offer, we knew that we would be able to provide the perfect placements for their interns.”
BGC Dawson’s building is over 60 years old and is in need of many upgrades like painting and general building maintenance. It was the perfect opportunity to partner with the Verdun Adult and Career Centre to offer quality internships for students.
Sean Albany, the Building Maintenance Program instructor, shared that the program teaches general skills for building maintenance and is the only program of its kinds offered in English in Quebec. Through the program students have the opportunity to learn:
- How to maintain large commercial buildings
- How all building systems work including electrical, plumbing, fire suppression, heating, and ventilation
- Use of power tools and industrial grade cleaning products
On May 9th, BGC Dawson welcomed their first cohort of VACC students from the building maintenance program to refresh and repaint an office and perform general maintenance throughout the building. A group on nine rotating students came to the centre over a two-week period. After a deep clean of the office, the crew was set to patch holes, sand the walls, and then prime. In two short weeks, the entire room was repainted. “We are so happy with the final result” shared one intern.
The fresh bright blue paint in the office will serve as a welcoming space for children and parents when they meet with Children’s Program Coordinator, Cindy Cohen.
“We know this is just the beginning of many more internships to come!” concludes Marie Rousseau.
For more information on the programs offered by the Verdun Adult and Career Centre, please visit their website: https://web-sites.lbpsb.qc.ca/international-vocational/Our-Centres/Verdun-Adult-and-Career-Centre
