Squamish students have mad skills, and they proved it last week at the Skills Canada B.C. Competition at Howe Sound Secondary School. On Thursday (March 14), the school played first-time host to two of the province's regional competitions: welding and cabinet making."Two years ago, [these competitions] weren't being held in our region," Linda McHale, the district's career programs assistant said. That meant if students wanted to participate in the events, they had to travel to the school that was hosting them. Two of Howe Sound Secondary's teachers, Vicki Schenk and Steve Gravelle, offered their school as a regional venue when the previous school could no longer host the events. "We're very excited," McHale said. "Imagine hosting regional level competitions right here at Howe Sound."In past years, regional winners from Howe Sound Secondary have gone on to do quite well at the provincial level. "One of our former students won gold in the baking competition ... and the WorkSafe Safety Award for excellence in safety from Workers' Compensation Board of B.C.," McHale said. "We have also had a silver winner in electronics at the provincial level and we do not even offer this as a course."Howe Sound students did well on home turf this year too. In the welding competition, Scott Halvorson won gold. Matt Jennings took home the top prize in cabinet making. Both gold winners will advance to the provincial competition in Abbotsford on April 16. In cabinet making, silver was awarded to Devon Swanson, who is already apprenticing as a carpenter through the school's work experience program. Bronze went to Joe Turner. Gottfried Skriner and Brandon Gilroy also participated in the cabinet making competition. Rounding out the welding competition were Phil Cairns, who took silver, and Scott Andrews with the bronze. All students are in Grade 12. Schenk added that the students were just as excited as the teachers. "They're pretty nervous because it really is a big deal."The competitions are designed to help raise the profile of trades and technology as an attractive career option for B.C. students. Similar competitions take place all over the province in categories like graphic design, culinary arts, computer animation and fashion design. Students go into the competitions totally blind - project plans were not given to them until right before the competition begins. Judges from local woodworking and fabricating businesses picked this year's winners based on their ability to follow the plans, the students' technical skills, and the overall look of the final project. According to Skills Canada, "The philosophy of these competitions is to reward students for excellence, to directly involve industry in evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers' needs." McHale added she would like to thank the local businesses whose donations made the event possible.
