By Chad Klassen

Skills Canada competition start of trades training for students

Mar 4, 2016 | 4:20 PM

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University was the site of a trades competition on Friday involving high school and post-secondary students, who got to showcase their skills in their field of expertise. 

It’s all part of the Skills Canada BC competitions being held across the province. TRU hosted a regional competition open to students in grade 6 to 12, as well as TRU trades students, who were racing against the clock to finish their projects.

Sierra Legault is an ‘Ace It’ student out of NorKam, doing her trades training at TRU while finishing up her Grade 12 year. 

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“My teacher let me know, she emailed me and was like, ‘we have a Skills Canada competition.’ I was like, ‘that’d be really cool to go and compete against people my age.’”

If students wins this regional event, they advance to provincials, with a shot at nationals and even the worlds. 

“It helps them grow fabrication skills, laying out and measuring and learning where to put welds and when to put welds in certain places and stuff like that,” says Andrew Christensen, a former gold medal winner from this competition. 

Christensen is now a TRU welding student, but he won this regional event as a high school student two years ago. He knows how this competition can help students develop in the trades. 

“It just showed me that there’s more to welding than just welding. There’s competitions and I enjoy having competition and just trying to be the best,” he notes.

Shaelyn Hayes is competing in her first Skills Canada event. She’s already graduated but is still of high-school age. 

“It gives us a little bit of a challenge and it shows what skills we have compared to other students and gives us a chance to see what level we’re at.”

In the carpentry shop, students were busy sawing and sanding to create their best work. The judges watched their every move to see how accurate they could be. 

“Measuring has to be precise or else you won’t get a good mark on your project,” says carpentry competitor Ryland Davoren. 

Meanwhile, Legault has her eyes on bigger things as an electrician.

“I’d like to do industrial, work more into relays and pumps, more of a commercial setting. I’d like to move away from wiring and do more transformers and complicated starters and all that.”