YuKonstruct strikes up partnership with Whitehorse school

It's a "perfect partnership."

That's what Jaret Slipp calls the deal that was struck recently between YuKonstruct and École Émilie Tremblay, a French school in Whitehorse.

Slipp is the executive director of YuKonstruct, a cooperative organization with technical equipment that allows people to work with metal and wood.

YuKonstruct is mostly empty during school hours, says Slipp; Émilie Tremblay, which has students from kindergarten to Grade 12, doesn't have shop facilities.

There are plans to build a new French high school in Whitehorse, but in the meantime, students between Grades 8 and 12 will learn technical skills from YuKonstruct, says Marc Champagne, the executive director of Yukon's French school board.

"It's an exciting space for students to be in," says Champagne.

Along with the traditional shop equipment, Slipp says YuKonstruct is full of "technology-driven equipment not usually found in schools."

This includes 3D printers, laser cutters, industrial sewing machines and coding laboratories.

​The school board has a base agreement to use the space for around $10,000, says Slipp. YuKonstruct will charge more to provide an expert to teach students skills.

Both Slipp and Champagne hope this partnership is the start of many to come.

YuKonstruct has a partner organization called (co)space. It's a place where entrepreneurs can come together to work, or share ideas.

Students can also benefit from learning about the entrepreneurial side of trade from (co)space, says Champagne.

Slipp hopes that the partnership leads to others with schools in the territory, so "schools have a chance to expose their students to technology-driven equipment," he says.