he transition from an electrical contractor to an instructor was an easy one for Don Zaklan. "I didn’t find being a teacher is that much different than being a foreman; it’s just communicating ideas to people," said the Red Seal-certified electrician.

Teaching trades wasn’t something Zaklan thought about when he graduated from high school. At the time, he considered becoming an electrician because it was something he didn’t know much about. So, after graduating high school, he enrolled at the B.C. Institute of Technology and began his four-year electrical apprenticeship.

For most of his career he operated a service truck, then took on management and superintendent positions. He had just switched companies when a former co-worker told him BCIT was looking for electrical instructors.

"My whole family are teachers, my brothers, sisters-in-law, cousins and aunts," said the 51-year-old. "I come by it honestly. I enjoy the work, that’s one thing about teaching, you have to enjoy it. It’s not for everybody."

Three years into his career at BCIT, Zaklan was chosen to head up the electrical pre-apprenticeship program in the Surrey school district. For the past 12 years he’s been teaching high-school students, helping them to land apprenticeships and launch their own careers.

Students who meet the program’s requirements begin the course in Grade 11. They begin their electrical training with Zaklan at Princess Margaret Secondary during the winter break until the end of the second semester. In the summer, they complete a 10-week apprenticeship before coming back to Zaklan’s classroom for the fall semester.

"[The program] helps them become indentured as an apprentice because they have training on safety, tools, electrical theory and that helps them be more successful on the job site. A contractor has told me a student out of this class is worth $10,000 for them."

This year marked a milestone for Zaklan.

For the first time ever, all 16 of his students graduated and landed apprenticeships, qualifying them for the province’s $1,000 Secondary School Apprenticeship scholarships.

"When I started this course in Surrey, some of the people who were organizing kids into careers didn’t even know what an apprenticeship was," said Zaklan.

To ensure students are aware of their career options, Zaklan and his class give Junior Trades presentations on the electrician program to Grade 8 and 9 students in Surrey.

The workshops are just one of the ways Zaklan teaches his students to give back to the community. They also participate in a pre-apprenticeship program at Guildford Secondary, wiring the homes carpentry students build to be auctioned off. This past winter, his students helped install the Lights of Hope at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Outside of his classwork, Zaklan helped design the electrical wiring and industrial writing contests for the provincial and national levels of Skills Canada, a non-profit organization that promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies to youth. He has also been a national technical committee member for Skills Canada for the past six years.

"I enjoyed contracting, it was interesting and challenging and the work was always varied, but it’s all about making money, whereas this is different," he said of his teaching career. "This is about getting those students trained."

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