A slightly disappointing result was in store for three teams of students from Powell River who travelled to Abbotsford to participate in the 19th annual Skills BC provincial competition April 17.
Students who won gold medals in regional competitions were invited to the event to showcase their trade skills and see who would represent the province in national competition.
The students are participating in the dual credit trades programs provided through Brooks Secondary School and Vancouver Island University. Powell River’s Peter Lavergren took a silver medal in carpentry, however both welder Tristan Kinahan and digital film school team Gemma Goletski and Madison Mayhew did not place in the medal rounds.
While the students did not take gold in their events, Brooks career counsellor Jim Palm said the experience itself was well worth it.
“It’s invaluable to send these students to the competition to gain that on-the-job expertise because the pressure is on and they’ve got to perform,” said Palm. “It’s like sending kids to athletic competitions.”
He said he was surprised with the result in carpentry because of all the projects that he looked at, Lavergren’s was “the most cleaned up and neat, whereas others weren’t even finished by the time the competition ended. We’re thinking he got the height wrong. I can guarantee you his was the best looking product on the floor. We thought for sure we’d be bringing home gold.”
Contest officials do not publicize the standing of projects that don’t make it to the medal round, so it is hard to say where Kinahan’s project placed. Competitors faced fierce competition. One small error could have made the difference, Palm said. Goletski and Mayhew had some technical difficulty with the sound on their film which put them out of the running.
Brooks principal Kathy Rothwell, together with dual credit instructors from carpentry, welding, and culinary arts and Palm took a group of first year students from the dual credit program to the competition as spectators. “It’s a real eye-opener for them to see the competition,” said Palm.
More than 400 students from around the province competed in 40 areas such as carpentry, culinary arts, fashion design, welding, hairdressing, electronics and computer animation.
