ALEXANDRIA, Ontario – Over 100 students, 23 teams and seven schools from the region participated in the Intermediate Skills Ontario Regional Qualifier on Thursday, March 21 at Glengarry District High School.
Students put their building and trades skills to the test in hopes of being selected to represent their school in a province-wide competition.
“All of the students that are here have already competed in these challenges at their own school and won to advance here,” explained Lindsey Howes, elementary and post secondary teacher. “The top teams in each challenge will advance to compete provincially in Toronto on May 6.”
Howes explained that students had three and a half hours to construct a product from a fully completed design that they made prior to the competition. Students faced off in three categories: Technology, in which students developed a hydroponic system, Green Energy, in which students constructed wind turbines, and Construction, where students made model wooden homes. Each category specified certain requirements and areas of judgement.
The program and competitions, federally funded through Skills Canada, strives to increase awareness of jobs in skilled trades.
“We have done a really good job in the past with talking about University as a potential pathway (for students), which is still a great pathway, but we want to let kids know there are multiple pathway options,” said Howes. “This is showing them a wide variety of jobs they may not have thought of before and helping them develop skills they need for any job… communication, team work and problem solving.”
Howes said this marks the second year for the program to be offered at the Grades 7 and 8 level. She is hoping that next year even more schools will be involved as the experience is very rewarding and educational.
“It has been really great to see involvement from community members who support this kind of thing in our schools. It has been fantastic to have the support of all these teachers because this is above and beyond our normal day…it has been a real team effort,” said Howes.
Winning teams, who will participate in Toronto, include the following:
Technology – Kieren McLeod, Brayden Flaro, Mikey MacLachlan and Colby Lauzon of Char-Lan District High School.
Green Energy – Amber Chan, Miah Duetta, Jeffrey Kalambayi and Nicholas Turner of Rockland District High School.
Construction – Alexis Smith, Ella Picard, Kailey Peerenboom and Emma Dewar of Glengarry District High School.
“We have had some amazing support from community partners to pay for the supplies, as well as the OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program) and SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major Program) who have supported us financially,” said Howes, who also thanked local sponsors who provided lunch for students.
