Taylor Skewes is a graduate of Cathedral High school and successfully completed two co-op placements in the Home Building Program. As her teachers, we are proud to announce that Taylor was recently chosen as the recipient of the Schulich Builders Scholarship for skilled trades. Taylor was awarded $40,000 toward her two-year Mohawk College Program in Construction Engineering for Building and Renovations.
In school and on the jobsite, she displayed excellent work ethic. The Home Building co-op program is affiliated with Habitat for Humanity, a placement where under the guidance of Mr. Joe Bozzo (Program Leader) Taylor was able to gain valuable knowledge and hands-on experiences in the construction field, while giving back to the local community. Knowing that her hard work at her co-op placement brought joy to the lives of many families in need gave Taylor even more drive to excel in her daily tasks. Taylor was a part of the building process of five-unit townhouses in downtown Hamilton. She was involved in building the houses from framing to finish, including building interior and exterior walls, flooring and stair assemblies. Additionally, she was involved in the process of fireproofing each unit, installing windows, foam insulation, batt insulation, vapor barriers, deck building, basement framing, soffits, fascia, and siding. She has also shown interest at her co-op placement in gaining knowledge in not just carpentry, but electrical and plumbing as well.
Taylor’s co-op teacher, Mrs. Leroux, encouraged her to continue taking co-op in the Home Building program for a second term, since she excelled in her first co-op term. During this time, she showed tremendous leadership qualities and acted as a mentor to all the new co-op students in the program. Taylor’s dedication to go above and beyond for those in the community and her passion for what she does allowed Taylor to continue pursuing her dream and goal of wanting to become a general contractor, eventually becoming a female custom home builder. With the recommendation of both of her teachers, Taylor applied for the scholarship and recently was told that she was a successful candidate. This award is a very prestigious and highly competitive scholarship due to its monetary nature. We are so very proud that she is able to represent our school co-op program as well as the Home Building program in being selected as one of the recipients at Mohawk College.
“On behalf of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, I congratulate Taylor on receipt of the prestigious Schulich Builders Scholarship for skilled trades. Like her family and the Cathedral High School community, we are very proud of her and happy for her,” said Chairperson Pat Daly.
Earlier in the year, Mr. Bozzo and Mrs. Leroux assisted Taylor in applying for an Entrepreneurship Bursary funded through the HWCDSB. Under their guidance, they were able to help Taylor create a very detailed business plan and apply for funds to go toward new tools to start her new company. Taylor was awarded $2500 toward tools after she pitched a fantastic start-up business, a female-led construction business specializing in home renovations.
During her studies at Cathedral, Taylor was chosen to participate in the Ontario Skilled Trades competition where she competed in hand-crafting furniture. Taylor was rewarded the E.H. Mancinelli Learning & Education Centre OYAP scholarship award. She was awarded $250 toward her post-secondary education due to her knowledge in skilled trades and her leadership while completing her cooperative education placement at the Home Building job site. She was also the recipient of the graduation award for technical studies at Cathedral High School.
Taylor has always shown great effort in all that she does and has shown a tremendous love and passion for skilled trades, specifically construction. Congratulations Taylor on your well-deserved success, and we wish you the best of luck in your future career as a female in the skilled trades.