Trades in good hands with skills competitors

This year's Lakeland Regional Skills Competition brought out the best among high school students taking trades training at area high schools.

Grade 11 and 12 students from Mannville, Camrose, Lloydminster, Tofield, Vermilion, Kitscoty as well as the online School of Hope gathered at the Vermilion campus on April 19. A total of 56 students attended the event as parents, high school teachers, Lakeland faculty and other visitors looked on.

Rob Wasylik, a career and technology studies/social teacher from Kitscoty Jr./Sr. High School, has been bringing students to the competition for the last three years. He says the opportunity for students to take part in the event benefits students, teacher as well as the future industry.

“The exposure that students receive to the different trades represented at the competition helps them determine which path they want to pursue as a career,” says Wasylik. “For high school teachers, it’s also interesting for us to see the different levels and abilities of students from different schools.”

Categories at this year’s competition were electrical wiring, carpentry, culinary arts, welding, auto service, cabinet making, and new this year, junior and intermediate hairstyling and television/video production.

One aspect of the competition that seems to reflect recent industry trends is the growing number of female students competing in events that traditionally filled with male students. In cabinetmaking for example, there were more female competitors than male – including one of Wasylik’s students, Robyn Mousseau. Female students also owned the podium in the category with Karen Woldshyn, a student at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School, in first place, and Mousseau finishing in third.

Mosseau says her experience in the Lakeland Skills competition and in career and technology studies (CTS) courses offered at her school will help her down the road when she pursues a design career after high school graduation. Last year as a Grade 11 student, she took the CTS interior design technology course that was delivered at the Vermilion campus by the college’s interior design department.

“I enjoy learning woodworking skills and taking part in the competition. It is a great opportunity and I recommend it to all high school students interested in trades jobs after graduation,” says Mousseau.

Female students also took part in welding, television/video production, culinary arts and hairstyling.

This year’s winners at the Lakeland Regional Skills Competition event are listed below. First place winners advance to the provincial competition in Edmonton May 10 and 11. To view photos from the 2012 Lakeland Skills Competition, go to Lakeland College Canada on Facebook and check out the photo album. Results for competition categories are:

Carpentry

1^st - Ben Bates, J. R. Robson, Vermilion

2^nd - Joey Spooner, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

3^rd - Brett Lorenz, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

Cabinet making

1^st- Karen Woldshyn, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

2^nd - Aaron Olsen, Camrose Composite High School

3^rd - Robyn Mousseau, Kitscoty Jr. Sr. High School

Auto service

1^st - Steven Oleksyn, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

2^nd - Dylan Mari, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

3^rd – Joseph McLaughlin, Mannville School

Culinary arts

1^st – Madison Huseb, Camrose Composite High School

2^nd – Mackenzie Stewart, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

3^rd – Czesna Carreon, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

Hairstyling (junior)

1^st – Mikayla Rozka, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

2^nd – Cassia Kindopp, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

3^rd – Delaney Bruneau, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

Hairstyling (intermediate)

1^st – Haley Lee, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

2^nd- Dreau Holt, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

3^rd – Carley Aldous, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

Welding

1^st - Sean Stewart, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

2^nd – Zachary Mason, School of Hope, East Central Catholic Schools

3^rd – John McLaughlin, Mannville School

Electrical wiring

1^st – Tanner Scarf, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

2^nd – Logan Turgeon, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

3^rd – Garret Kiechinger, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

TV/Video production

1^st – Benjamin Musgrave & Evan Yusep, Lloydminster Comprehensive High School

2^nd – Joey Hurley & Shawn Doll, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

3^rd – Cara Ellingboe & Ryan Zorgdrager, Holy Rosary High School, Lloydminster

In photo: Robyn Mousseau, a Grade 12 student at Kitscoty Junior/Senior High School, was one of four female entries in the cabinet making category at the Lakeland Regional Skills Competition. She finished in third place. Karen Woldshyn, a Lloydminster Comprehensive High School student, won the event and advances to the provincial competition in Edmonton.