A construction site in Fort St. John, in northeastern British Columbia, hums with activity as heavy machines dig and strip soil.
This may look like a full-scale construction operation, but this is actually a classroom for 16 senior high school students for a week. These students have been the selected participants in this year’s Project Heavy Duty, the annual hands-on training program operated by School District 60 in the Peace River North region—which provides students with an opportunity to operate heavy equipment, experience working in a construction site, and learn directly from industry professionals.
Wyatt Mason, a heavy equipment operator, supervises the students as they operate the heavy machinery including crawlers, excavators, and rock trucks. A decade ago, he was one of them.
“I was in Project Heavy Duty in 2015 and I enjoyed it a lot—the whole experience, meeting everybody, getting to learn all the equipment,” Mason says in a video posted on Project Heavy Duty’s website. “It’s always been something I wanted to do—come back and teach other kids. So when I got offered the opportunity, I jumped on it immediately.”
Project Heavy Duty gives students a chance to explore careers in the heavy construction industry, develop essential workplace safety skills, and receive mentorship from industry professionals.
“You get to learn so much while you’re out here. It’s a great opportunity and it just builds a confidence in yourself that you didn’t have before,” shares Joria, one of the participants of Project Heavy Duty, in the same video posted in the program’s website.
