The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board is going back to the stone ages with a new program meant to help address the region's skilled trades gap.
It's offering a new course in masonry at F.J. Brennan High School for students in Grades 9, 10 and 11.
"If you talk to local contractors, finding skilled masons is really a difficult thing right now," says board spokesperson Stephen Fields.
Fields says the students have embraced the program.
"A lot of people don't realize that going through a masonry program, there're a lot of opportunities for people once they graduate," says Fields. "You can also go into civil engineering programs. You can go into construction technology programs at the college. You can end up being a contractor."
The course is a partnership with the Canadian Masonry Association and is taught by a teacher who has received his level one certification.