The carpentry program at W.C. Miller Collegiate in Altona recently acquired a generous gift that will enhance its program.  W.C. Miller was one of 6 schools in the province to be awarded a 2017 Stanley DeWalt Tool Grant, receiving about $10,000 worth of portable power tools and hand tools.

Instructor Rick Rempel said the grant is a big bonus for their program and will improve what they can do in class.  Rempel said they have a lot of tools that have come to the end of their life span, and needed to be updated.  "And with all the cordless tools being used today, it's nice to have enough for every student to be able to use one at the same time," said Rempel.  "It makes us a lot more efficient, and makes it easier to teach them how to do things if they can all practice at the same time."

Stanley DeWalt supplies a lot of tools for the Skills Canada National Program, and each year, through an application process, distributes these grants in each province.  Rempel said it feels pretty good to have been selected.

Rempel did note some of the tools may not apply to what they do, and in that case they may look at donating them, or make a trade with other schools. He said because they're apart of the Red River Technical Vocational Area, they'll probably be able to make those arrangements quite easily.

(Submitted photo) (L-R) Kate Campbell - HGTV's host of Custom Built, Richard Rempel- Carpentry Instructor- W.C. Miller Collegiate, Dylan Meilun- Carpentry Student, and Paul LaFrance - Host of HGTV’s Deck Wars