700,000 skilled workers<\/a>,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n“We have also noticed at the YMCA that in this region there is a lack of programming for youth, specifically between ages of 12 to 14 and 15.”<\/p>\n
‘It was really, really fun’<\/p>\n
Patenaude said the YMCA of the National Capital Region decided to tackle both issues simultaneously, adding that skilled trades offer a viable career choice for youths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774117180_533_default.jpg\")
Ana Patenaude is the director of community youth programming for the YMCA of the National Capital Region. She says skilled trades offer a viable career choice for youths. (Taken by Rebecca Russell)<\/p>\n
She said the Future Builders: Skilled Trades March Break Camp also sought to teach transferable skills and provide a space for creativity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Between ages 12 to 14, they want to be treated like grown-ups,” she said. “And [we\u2019re] giving them, in a safe way, an opportunity to explore trades, to build something, and also to come out from this program with something tangible they can bring home.”<\/p>\n
On the first day of the camp, the children were taught basic safety measures.<\/p>\n
Patenaude said they were also introduced to basic carpentry skills, told about apprenticeships and taught how to use the tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thirteen-year-old Maiia Zakibana, Patenaude\u2019s niece, said building a table was a standout for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774117181_795_default.jpg\")
A birdhouse and toolbox made by the youths in the day camp. (Taken by: Rebecca Russell )<\/p>\n
“It’s crazy. I was really surprised that I can do all those things,” she said. “And I really enjoyed it.” <\/p>\n
The children also built small bridges out of popsicle sticks, learning basic design principles.<\/p>\n
“We got to test it. Our bridge held 19 drills and six hammers,” Zakibana said. “It was really, really fun.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-551701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n