5 minute read
Kingston HBA Scores an A+
Kingston HBA Scores an A+
Initiative with local schools to grow trades is building on past success
In a recent conversation with older brother Tim, Scott Darling was espousing the virtues of a flourishing partnership between the Kingston Home Builders’ Association and local schools.
It’s a program that Scott, regional sales manager of Terra Nova Truss and Kingston Home Builders’ Association’s 2024 president, helped initiate.
“I was telling Tim about this crazy-good educator we’re working with to promote skilled trades education in the area,” Darling shares. “That reminded Tim of this amazing woodshop teacher he had at school who did all these cool projects with students and who spent his summers building barns. Tim’s future career—he’s now the owner of Hawthorne Kitchens and Innotech Cabinetry in Kingston—was inspired by this teacher. We didn’t realize for a few minutes that we were talking about the same guy—Geoff Petznick.”
Not that Darling needed any further validation, but it brought a smile to his face. When he helped create a new board position of education liaison at Kingston HBA three years ago, he indeed had picked the right person for the job. A passionate supporter of trades and apprenticeship opportunities for students, Petznick became a licensed carpenter at age 19, operating a successful barn-building and restoration business. A diploma in Heritage Carpentry and Millwork from Algonquin College was followed by a diploma in education at Queen’s University. He started teaching construction for the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) shortly thereafter and is now in his 25th year with the board.
Petznick’s addition augmented what was already a successful partnership. The LDSB has been a Kingston HBA board member for years. It is tied to Limestone’s Building Construction Internship Program, where teacher Dan Fisher oversees 15-20 students who construct one house per semester, working alongside a local contractor.
But Darling and the Kingston HBA wanted to up the ante. “We decided that instead of complaining about the lack of skilled young workers, let’s be part of the solution!” Darling explains. “We gave Geoff funding to be used at his discretion. He has his own committee as well. He gets to bring his perspective and influence our policy decisions, while we’re able to hear what’s going on and learn how we can help boost our local students toward the skilled trades.”
Kingston HBA and the program aren’t playing favourites. When they learned that the local Catholic school board wanted to develop a chainsaw program, they raised funds and purchased all the required equipment.
“I was a high school construction teacher at one point, and most people think, ‘What’s $1,000 really going to
accomplish?’” Darling relates. “But most teachers only have $500 per class for their semester budget. So whereas $3,500 for chainsaws isn’t that big a deal to us, to them it’s the reason all these kids can now be trained as arborists. We’re also sponsoring local skills competitions and home-building teams, as well as bulkbuying safety equipment like hard hats. But Geoff is the face of this. He’s one of the only people I’ve ever seen working at a high school board level who comes from the trades.”
Although a Specialist High Skills Major and Skilled Trades Consultant for the board, it’s Petznick’s pre-teaching qualifications that have always gotten youngsters to sit up and take notice. “I’m very proud of my carpentry licence—it got me to where I am today,” he says. “The kids don’t always appreciate the different destinations the trades can take them.”
But step one is instilling that same passion. Next is finding co-op placements for students. To that end, those enrolled in the house-building program are signed up for OYAP, which will provide funding for everything from training to work boots, allowing students to attend school while training as registered apprentices.
“I work with a great group of people who have a similar goal of introducing different pathways to university or college. My work is to promote the trades as just as viable a pathway as any other,” offers Petznick, who has witnessed the fruits of his labours. “We have former students of the program who are now business owners on our board of directors.”
Petznick also has a little blood in the game. “My wife, Caroline, is a carpenter too. Two of our four children are in the trades, and the younger twins are already talking about carpentry. Maybe we should start a company,” he laughs. Darling is just as enthusiastic about the future. “It’s a mission we’re so passionate about in Kingston,” Darling says. “We’re investing in our youth. And while we’re just getting started, we’re already seeing real, tangible results. We think of where this could be in 20 years, especially if other cities sign onto this as well. It’s not taking much money to make a big difference.”
