Silver medalist to return to Lakeland

Come January, Kaleb Bosch will return to Lakeland College not only with his carpentry tools, but with a silver medal in hand.

Since he was strong enough to swing a hammer, the 20-year-old has had a profound interest in the carpentry industry. Most recently, Bosch’s passion for the trade and skills earned him a spot on the podium at the 2016 Alberta Skills Competition.

The now-third-year carpentry apprentice made the transition to take the lead at Lakeland after completing his first year at NAIT in Edmonton.

“It’s close to home. Plus, you get to know your instructors and your classmates on a more personal level,” says the Lloydminster native regarding Lakeland’s small class sizes. “And by the end of the second year I had already met my third- and fourth-year instructors, which will make it an easy transition year to year.”

Bosch will continue to master his trade in the carpentry centre at the Vermilion campus before hopefully gearing up for the 2017 Alberta Skills Competition.

Earlier this year marked Bosch’s first entry into the competition, which he says was a good experience.

“It forces you to work under pressure while applying the theory and skills you learn in school,” says Bosch. “You don’t usually have to work under that kind of pressure.”

Bosch, along with eight other entrants in the carpentry class of the competition, were tasked with building a children’s playhouse within eight hours. From the basic framing to the pitch calculations, each step has to be known off the top of their head with no assistance from an advisor to complete the task.

At the end of the day, not one contestant finished the playhouse, however, Bosch’s structure was clean enough to place second.

Bosch was matched against students from both NAIT and SAIT, Red Deer College and Lethbridge College.

As for his future in carpentry, he has his mind set on giving back and allowing future apprentices to take charge of their futures at Lakeland.

“My long-term goal is to teach,” says Bosch. “If given the opportunity, I would love to teach at Lakeland. I find a lot of value in the smaller class sizes, which suits me well as I like to see how people progress through their projects and in life.

“Lakeland would be an excellent career choice for me.”

Photo: Kaleb Bosch, a third-year apprentice and 2016 Alberta Skills Competition silver medalist, returns to Lakeland College in January 2017. Once he completes his apprenticeship he hopes to one day teach at Lakeland.