Welding Instructor Jim McCarthy Recognized with Board Award of Recognition

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Story provided by Chelsea Isenor, Director of Communications and Board Administration

On Monday June 30, 2025, the Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education awarded the second annual Board Award of Recognition to Jim McCarthy.

The Board Award of Recognition was established in 2024 to recognize individuals who are collaborative, enthusiastic, selfless, generous, and positive risk takers who make school environments better by supporting growth for all learners, promoting emotional, psychological, and physical well-being for learners who have been historically marginalized, and removing barriers and providing accessible and empowering opportunities for students to learn and grow.

This year’s Board Award of Recognition recipient, Jim McCarthy, is a well-known and long-standing welding and fabrication instructor who has taught at both TRU and NorKam Secondary for over 10 years. Mr. McCarthy volunteers for the United Way and multiple community organizations and works to remove barriers for students to realize their potential and give back to their communities. His shop is known as “a sanctuary for anyone who has been hard done by the status quo of conventional education. Everyone is welcome to be their true self in Jim’s inclusive environment.”

Many of his students have expressed how Jim’s combination of learning and listening make him a good teacher, mentor, and friend. One student said “it's like he is a bundle of goodness all in one person,” while another student shared, “Jim is a phenomenal instructor, he truly is the reason why so many kids come back and go into welding… He actually treats us like workers, he gives us respect, he has so much knowledge, and he's so open to projects where we can express ourselves in different ways. He does so much for the community and helps us be part of it which helps us grow as well.”

Mr. McCarthy’s accomplishments also include legacy projects such as developing the NorKam Mechanical Sampler classes, building an Indigenous-themed gazebo with his students that will be displayed at TRU in the future, and creating an Indigenous bench as a gesture of Reconciliation which now sits outside of the head office at NorKam.

Recently, Jim partnered with Insight Support Services to offer a class of Insight students the opportunity to work with Mechanical Sampler students at NorKam Secondary. This day was inspired by Jim’s desire to break down barriers and offer students with an autism diagnosis the opportunity to learn about welding with hand-on mentorship from the Mechanical Sampler students. Jenica from Insight Support Services shared, “It's a really amazing experience for Insight students… so many of our students haven't had exposure to these experiences. Today provided exposure to different things they can do, including different education and different job opportunities that are out there.” Jim’s goal is to make the Insight Day an annual event so that it can continue to benefit a variety of students in the future.

At the Board Award of Recognition celebration, Board Chair Grieve shared, “On behalf of the Board of Education, Mr. McCarthy really does embody everything we had hoped a Board Award would be. It is a real privilege for us to be awarding you this Board Award of Recognition this evening. Thank you so much for removing barriers for students to accomplish ways to give back to the community while realizing their own potential as learners and human beings—it's the most we can ask from the people who are involved with our students.”

After accepting the award, Jim McCarthy shared his story and gratitude, while emphasizing the importance of trades education and offering opportunities for students to explore different paths in order to find success and fulfillment:

When I found out about this nomination and award, I felt very proud. But, in some ways I also felt like an imposter. Mostly because I didn’t grow up wanting to be a teacher (or even believing I could be). And—if I’m being very honest—I didn’t grow up wanting to be a welder either.

But after I reflected back on all the students I’ve taught over the past several years, I realized: my students usually don’t grow up wanting to be welders, either—at least, not at first.

It’s not the kind of job you dream about when you’re little. In my experience, it’s where you often end up when the world isn’t kind to you. Or when you’re just that fish from Einstein’s famous quote who’s been asked to climb a tree, and when it can’t, it ends up believing it’s whole life that it's stupid.

I didn’t choose this path because welding inspired me. I chose it because I was a fish, and school was a tree.

In fact, at the age of 15, I left school and got a job as an “office lad”—running errands in an industrial, postwar factory in Liverpool. I didn’t leave school because I didn’t care, or didn’t try—but in my part of Liverpool, you either went on to take your academic exams and finish school—as my brilliant wife did (those results would determine your future success)—or you found a way to feed yourself.

In my family, if you didn’t succeed, you didn’t eat. So, as a student who struggled with heady academics and focus, I knew there was only one option.

After a few months working as an office lad, I heard about an opportunity in the same factory to apply for an apprenticeship in one of 3 roles: electrician, carpenter, or welder. I jumped at the chance to make a higher wage and finally have a real career. I went through a series of aptitude tests and interviews and eventually got the chance to meet with the hiring officer for a formal interview. I had nothing to wear, so I borrowed an oversized suit jacket from a neighbour.

When I went into the interview, I requested to be an apprentice electrician. It seemed to carry the most pizazz. But, the hiring manager told me “that wasn’t for me” (probably because he saw my aptitude test). But after watching my work ethic for many months in the office, I’m certain he felt like he should probably give this poor kid a chance, and he said I could choose from one of the other two: carpentry or welding.

I didn’t know much about either, so I just said the first thing that came to mind: Welding. Maybe it was the easy sound of it. (Two syllables instead of three. Could remember the spelling). Maybe it was the possibility of playing with fire. Maybe it was just pure shock at being offered an opportunity. Whatever it was—that was the moment welding became my future.

And all these years later, I’m still here. Because someone saw that maybe I couldn’t climb a tree, but I might be able to swim real fast if given the right stream.

The point is: what began as a way to survive for me… became the way I’ve helped others live.

As a teacher in my old age, I now know: That’s what trades can do. I’ve watched it again and again… Young people walking into my classroom with their shoulders hunched and their confidence cracked. Kids who’ve been told they’re not academic. Not enough. Not likely to make it. Kids from all walks of life. Fish trying to climb trees.

But give them a torch, give them a weld, give them something they can make with their own two hands…Give them an opportunity from someone who sees their determination, someone who sees that capability isn’t always summed up in medical school and law school…and something clicks. They start recognizing their own power.

Not long ago, I hosted a forging workshop for children with autism. One boy came up to me after and said it was the best class he’d ever attended—and promised he’d be back to visit.

Then there’s Alexis. She came through my program and went on to complete the Foundation Welding Program. She competed in the Regional Skills Welding Competition and won gold. Then gold again at provincials. Then bronze at nationals—third in all of Canada. She was the first woman at TRU to achieve that. And I’m certain it won’t be her last success in the trades.

But not every success comes with a medal. Sometimes it’s much quieter—like the boy who came to class without saying a word, completely shut down by trauma. He was a natural talent. One day, Principal Johnathan Brady stopped by the shop and said hello. From his seat, that boy looked up—and for the first time ever—said, “Hi.”

Moments like that are powerful. But they’re not rare. I see them all the time. And that’s why this award means so much to me—because it’s not about me. It’s about what trades can do. It’s about what happens when someone is seen, given a chance, and offered the dignity of purpose.

And it’s about people like you—who choose to recognize that. You’re not just honouring me today. You’re giving these students a voice. And a real chance at life.

My work is not just about welding. It’s about worth. It’s about taking young people who’ve been overlooked, underestimated, or counted out—and giving them a trade, a skill, a way in. Without demanding they put on that suit jacket or be anything other than who they are. Kids just like me.

It’s about saying: That thing out there…may not be for you. But you still matter. You can make something that lasts. And they do. Because without welders, doctors have no hospitals to work in. Lawyers have no offices. The Bridges that get all of us to work don’t hold. Cities don’t grow. No one. And I mean NO ONE gets to lead the life they want. Without tradespeople, none of us move forward.

This award may have my name on it, but it belongs to every student who ever walked into my workshop feeling unsure… And walked out knowing they could make something strong. That they were something strong. No matter how many trees they once failed to climb.

And who knows—Maybe someday, welding will be the thing kids dream of doing. Not the fallback. Not the last resort. But the spark that starts it all.

That’s why I’m so grateful for this award today. Because you didn’t just recognize me. You recognized them. You recognized the trades. And you recognized the power of opportunity. And if that’s the future we’re building together—I think we’re all swimming up the right stream.