At our Rocktoberfest event in Rockport, held last weekend, there were seven people who took their certification test. These were all competent wallers who had written to the DSWAC and the DSWA of UK requesting to take this test, to get either their beginner's or their intermediate accreditation.
Each year the DSWAC accommodates for this by organizing a suitable building site somewhere in Canada, including providing the stone material to be used for the testing and arranging for examiners ( all qualified instructors with the DSWA of Uk) to travel to Canada to test individuals who feel they are good enough to build walls according to British standards.
This October we invited Michael Weitzner of the United States and Norman Haddow of Scotland to travel here to do these examinations. Onlookers watched from a distance while these people were being tested, but they were not allowed to talk to them or distract them. The whole process is very interesting to observe. The testing is very thorough and the requirements are very specific.
Accreditation is a good way for individuals who are serious about walling to pursue an officially recognized level of achievement and be evaluated according to strict standards.
Kenny Tauch from Cornerbrook Newfoundland, Mary Hinton and John Montagnes from Cannington Ontario, and Joe Mitchell, Akira Inman and Evan Oxland from Port Hope (six of the seven people who were tested at this year's festival) are seen here after a long day of being testing, which included taking down and rebuilding a sizable section of wall. Although they have each been told whether they passed or not, and Michael and Norman have spent time with each individual going over their section of wall explaining the reason for their marks, the official results can not be posted on the DSWAC website until the paperwork has been received back in Britain and the test results have been accepted by the DSWA of UK examining board.
