The Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC) is pleased to bring WoodLINKS, British Columbia's highly successful general wood manufacturing industry high school curriculum (approved by the BC Ministry of Education), to high schools across Canada. Developed and presented by WoodLINKS, a BC-registered, non-profit society whose mandate is to recruit and prepare quality young people for entry-level work in the wood products manufacturing industry and/or entry into wood-related college and university programs, the WoodLINKS program is now available through the WMC.

THE WoodLINKS PROGRAM
The WoodLINKS Wood Products Manufacturing Education and Certification program consists of a curriculum, curriculum resources and assessment tools for certification to an industry standard. The program was developed primarily as a tool for high school teachers to enable them to teach current and relevant knowledge and skills in wood manufacturing. The program was developed in a cooperative process with representatives from the BC wood products manufacturing industry and secondary and post-secondary educators.

The WoodLINKS curriculum was built using a DACUM process with industry. The curriculum currently consists of 2 courses, representing approximately 240 hours of instruction in total. Curriculum content focuses on career exploration and basic skills in wood species identification, manufacturing processes, use of technology, product design, marketing and business skills. Assessment tools were developed to match the WoodLINKS curriculum.

A certification process was also developed with industry representatives setting the standard for achieving certification. The certification indicates students have met the industry standard for entry-level employment in wood products processing. Certification consists of a 3 part assessment: an evaluation by the WoodLINKS teacher, a written test set by WoodLINKS or WMC and a Practical Skills Checklist. A student must score 70% overall to be Certified.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS AND INDUSTRY PARTNERS
The WMC is now recruiting educational institutions and industry partners to deliver the WoodLINKS education and certification program. The primary target has been to have high schools deliver the program in grades 11 and 12. This gives the program maximum reach to young people at a time when they are beginning to make career and post-secondary education choices. In recruiting delivery schools, we are looking for communities where there is a significant wood industry presence (like the Greater Toronto Area). At least 1 or 2 companies (depending on the company size, more companies if possible) are asked to support the school in developing and offering the program. Industry partners help focus the program and provide expertise, speakers, field trips, work experience, etc. The process of implementing curriculum in high schools varies by province and school district. For this reason, we also make a connection to the relevant School District and provincial Ministry of Education to seek their support, advice and participation in implementing WoodLINKS programs.

Schools can offer the WoodLINKS curriculum as stand alone elective courses or embedded within existing courses, e.g., Woodworking 11/12, Construction 11/12, etc. The WoodLINKS program was pilot tested in 16 BC schools during the September 1997 and 1998 school years, and subsequently received approval from the BC Ministry of Education for use in all BC high schools. The program is now offered annually in some 15-20 schools throughout BC and there are 34 schools outside of BC (primarily in the US) that are presently certifying students. This includes some schools in the Kitchener and Waterloo area.

COSTS/FUNDING
Schools pay a yearly registration fee of $250 to offer the WoodLINKS program (this is negotiable). Assistance with implementing the program is also available. Original funding to develop the WoodLINKS program came from Forest Resources BC, an agency of the BC Government. While this provincial funding provided sustained and adequate financial support for the development and delivery of the program, it did not provide the environment that supported the expansion of the program outside the province of BC that was desired by industry across Canada. This is where the WMC comes in.

SKILLED ENTRY-LEVEL WORKERS….AND MORE-POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS CREDIT WOODLINKS GRADS
WMC's labour market research shows that wood manufacturing employers are looking to hire more entry-level workers and prefer to hire students who are WoodLINKS certified. In addition, the industry has and continues to work with a number of post-secondary institutions to design higher education programs that meet industry's needs for more skilled workers. For example, Conestoga College and the University of British Columbia both have programs which link with the WoodLINKS program and provide recognition for WoodLINKS certified students. And in fact, a noticeable proportion of students decide to pursue higher education in wood products processing once they have been exposed to WoodLINKS and hence the wood manufacturing sector and its career opportunities.

FUTURE PLANS FOR THE WOODLINKS PROGRAM
WMC plans to expand the existing curriculum into sub-sector specialty modules. The current program focuses on the full range of the wood manufacturing industry. While industry very much likes the program, feedback from both industry and educators indicates that developing the curriculum into sub-sector specific modules would better enable educators/trainers to orient their programs more directly to local employer needs while still incorporating core wood manufacturing skills relevant to the broad wood products processing industry.

WMC is proposing a total of 11 modules in the new curriculum: three core wood manufacturing modules and eight wood industry sub-sector modules. These include:

Core Curriculum Modules

1. Work Readiness I
2. Work Readiness II
3. Core Wood Manufacturing

Wood Industry Sub-sector Modules

1. Furniture
2. Cabinets (mass produced)
3. Windows & Doors (includes Architectural Millwork and Store Fixtures)
4. Fine Woodworking (Cabinetry, Custom Artistic/Custom)
5. Engineered Wood Products
6. Sawmilling
7. Remanufacturing
8. Panelboard Products

THE WOOD MANUFACTURING COUNCIL
WMC is Canada's HR sector council for the advanced wood products processing industry, which covers kitchen cabinets, furniture, windows and doors, pre-fabricated buildings, and other millwork (flooring, architectural millwork, engineered wood, trusses, fencing etc.). The Wood Manufacturing Council was established as the national human resources sector council for the Advanced Wood Products Manufacturing Sector with a goal to plan, develop and implement human resources strategies that support the long-term growth and competitiveness of the industry and to meet the developmental needs of its workforce. The mandate of the Wood Manufacturing Council is to provide the permanent infrastructure for the private sector to strategically address complex human resource issues in the advanced wood processing sector over a long period of time. The mission of the Wood Manufacturing Council is to assist in the recruitment for and the development of human capital within and by the advanced wood products manufacturing sector in Canada.

For more information contact Richard Lipman - President Wood Manufacturing Council.