June 27, 2008 - 7:33am
When Jarrett Swackhammer was a little boy, he was obsessed with heavy machinery like excavators.
His mom couldn’t pull him away from construction sites, and his kindergarten teacher had a hard time keeping him at his desk whenever a piece of heavy machinery drove by outside.
It’s no surprise that Jarrett’s passion for heavy equipment grew stronger during his teenage years. Now at age 18, he’s a proud graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Road Building Heavy Equipment Operator Certificate program.
Swackhammer graduated June 25 with 14 other students, earning a special award as the top excavator student in his class. According to instructor Will van Doorn, Jarrett was born to operate heavy machinery.
“He’s a natural,” said van Doorn. “Jarrett came into the program with minimal operating experience but has clearly demonstrated his forte for operating several different types of equipment, especially the excavator,” said van Doorn. “He consistently demonstrated exceptional skills in both theory and practical assignments.”
Jarrett’s mother Bonnie said her son “was born knowing what he wants to do in life. At age seven, Jarrett was enthralled with construction activity,” she said.
The city was installing a new sewer or water line in the Old City Quarter and Jarrett would sit outside all day, watching them work. The construction crew gave him a hard hat, shovel and construction vest, and even the occasional loonie for helping out. His picture appeared in the newspaper as the youngest volunteer construction worker in Nanaimo.
When he was nine, Jarrett helped out at a job site near his childhood home in the Hammond Bay area.
“The contractors would ask him questions and were amazed at his knowledge of the machinery they were using,” said Bonnie. “One day, dump trucks were coming to the job site to remove fill, but no operator was available. The contractor asked Jarrett to jump into the excavator and help load trucks. He gave Jarrett $20. When we tell people this, they think we’re making up stories. But it’s true.”
Bonnie often drives around town with Jarrett in the evenings and on weekends so he can check out various construction sites. “We look around the site, and Jarrett checks out all the machinery, what they use, how they use it. He examines how well they finish the job, and gets upset when he sees an operator who leaves a dirty machine, or doesn’t do the job properly.”
“I’m convinced that one day he’ll own his own company,” added Bonnie. “He’s an incredible kid.”
“My dad owns a trucking company so I’ve been around construction equipment my whole life,” said Jarrett. Modest at heart, he shrugs off all the attention he’s received from classmates and instructors.
“I’ve wanted to operate an excavator ever since I can remember,” said Jarrett, who completed grade 12 at Dover Bay Secondary last January. “I finished high school early so I could get into VIU’s Road Building program. I really enjoyed the course. It was great.”
Jarrett was trained at a well-equipped facility on Timberlands Road in Nanaimo where students learn how to operate heavy machinery including track excavators, backhoes, graders, bulldozers and front end loaders.
Stu Seifert, program chair, expects Jarrett and other grads to find work quickly.
“There are plenty of jobs available with starting wages of between $20 and $30 per hour,” Siefert said. “Last spring, we had 100 percent job placement. There’s a high demand for our graduates. Within a week of graduating, most of them find work in northern BC, Alberta and on the mainland. We have a good reputation and our students typically do very well.”
In addition to the four-month Road Builders program, students can also enroll in shorter training sessions for specific equipment, anywhere from three to eight weeks. VIU also works with industry to offer specialized courses in crane training, evaluations, fork lift certification, and driver training (class I and 3).
The next available Road Building and Heavy Construction Equipment Operator Certificate program begins March 3, 2009. To apply, call 740- 6227.
Tags: In the Community
