Engaging students to keep them interested in learning can be a challenge for educators.
In 2023, however, the district partnered with the Road Builders Association of New Brunswick to bring in a learning tool that has proven popular with trades students, while also preparing them for careers in the field.
Beginning in the second semester of the last school year, three district schools have been able to use the Road Builders’ heavy equipment simulator as a teaching tool for their trades and co-op students. The simulator mimics the controls and cab view of such pieces of heavy equipment as a skid steer, loader, and backhoe.
“We’ve just been fortunate that [we had it] last semester in Woodstock and this semester in SVHS and John Caldwell,” said John Hoyt-Hallett, ASD-W coordinator for Science and Experiential Learning. “Some of the students didn’t really see the point of coming to school, and now they drive 45 minutes each way just so they can be here to do the training and go to co-op.”
Seventeen students from Southern Victoria High School took part in the 40-hour simulator training course this semester, as did five students from Tobique Valley High School.
“The biggest thing for me is student engagement. We wanted to get students here and get them connected with school and identifying a path for after school,” said Southern Victoria High School Principal Justin Tompkins. “So, my biggest hope for the program was to build student engagement and set them on a good path for after they graduate.”
Students using the simulator are part of the SVHS’s co-op program. In school, they receive pre-employment instruction in such skills as resume building, how to write a cover letter, and how to interview. They also earn their Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS) and WorkSafe NB certifications.
The co-op program feeds a local need for workers in the construction industry. Said Tompkins, “there’s a high need for heavy equipment operators in the area, so this was a good way to support local industry and have students pick up a trade they’re interested in and get some hands-on experience with it.”
Vice-Principal Angela Barclay, who coordinates the co-op program, says she’s gotten positive feedback from area employers on the simulator-trained students they’ve employed from the co-op program.
“I’ve actually talked to a couple employers with students that have been in the heavy equipment training, and they said the biggest thing they’ve noticed is the [students’] excellent hand-eye coordination.”
Engaged Students
The heavy equipment simulator has been a hit with students, especially those with previous construction experience.
“I enjoyed running equipment and doing stuff like my dad. He does it all: dump truck, dozer, everything,” said Southern Victoria High School Grade 12 student Aislyn “Izzy” Saulis.
Saulis gained experience running heavy equipment when she operated a skid steer with her father several summers ago. Her favourite simulator—the skid steer—is “pretty fun,” she said.
And Southern Victoria High School Grade 12 student Koda Wolfe’s simulator experience helped him improve the skills he already had running bulldozers, skid steers and roller compactors.
“When you’re in the machine, you know what you’re supposed to do and you know where everything is supposed to go,” said Wolfe, who plans to obtain his Class 3 driver’s licence after graduation. The Class 3 licence allows the driver to operate a vehicle with three or more axles.
The heavy equipment simulator initially came to the district at Woodstock High School during the second semester of the 2022-2023 school year. It spent the first half of the new school year at Southern Victoria High School and is currently at the John Caldwell School. After John Caldwell, the simulator will move to various schools in the province’s three other Anglophone school districts.
“I would definitely welcome it back,” said Tompkins. “We could fill the seats for sure.”
“We hope to introduce Heavy Equipment Operator as a viable career option for students,” said Tom McGinn, executive director of the Road Builders Association of New Brunswick. He said “students are often not aware of the heavy civil/road building industry. Hopefully being exposed to the simulators will pique their interest.”