WESTLOCK - Two R.F. Staples School students, both of whom graduated this year, earned gold and silver medals at the 2021 Skills Canada Virtual National Competition.
Cooper Harbin won gold in automobile technology, while Kate Grimmeyer won silver in carpentry. While they both competed in late May, the results were not announced until mid-June.
In order to qualify for nationals, both students had to win gold medals in their respective categories at the provincial skills competition. (Notably, R.F. Staples students swept the carpentry category at the provincial event, winning gold, silver and bronze.)
Neither student has yet received their medals from the national Skills competition.
A love for tinkering
In spite of winning gold at provincials, Cooper says it still came as a big surprise when his name was announced as the gold medal winner in automotive skills during an online broadcast.
“Oh definitely,” he said, when asked if his victory came as a shock.
Cooper said his teacher found out about his result before he did, but he didn’t spoil the good news.
This was the second year that Cooper entered the Skills contest, though last year he did not advance beyond regionals.
So, what changed? Cooper said the automotive students did a lot of work at school to improve, but he has also been honing his skills by working at mechanics’ shops after school.
“Since I was ... probably 10, I’ve always loved working on quads, and lawnmowers, and just playing around with stuff,” Cooper said. “I’ve always just liked tinkering with stuff and learning how stuff works.”
Cooper said he had to complete roughly the same tasks for nationals as he did at provincials, but there was an added level of complexity to the competition.
Having now graduated from Grade 12, Cooper said he plans to study power engineering at college in the fall and then probably go on to NAIT or a similar technical school to finish his mechanics studies.
Cooper said he wished to thank his teacher Aaron Deas and also Brian Allison, who helped out the mechanics program when Cooper was in Grade 10.
A passion for carpentry
Kate Grimmeyer covered her face in shock when they announced the results for the carpentry category at the provincial Skills competition during an online broadcast. It was her first time entering this event, and so it came as quite a shock that she had nailed it on her first try.
“It was an unexplainable feeling,” she said.
That’s not to say it was unwarranted; Kate said she had been very proud of her work in the competition, knowing that she put in her best effort possible.
It was a stroke of luck that she even entered Skills this year, as she had attended online school for the first semester and only returned to in-person classes during the second semester. It was at that point teacher Kevin MacKenzie suggested she sign up for the event.
Like with provincials, Kate was able to work on her entry for nationals right at R.F. Staples. She noted that it was a very well-organized event and was very impressed with the set-up.
Kate said she had to complete a dog house at all three levels of the competition, but they step up the challenge for provincials and nationals, reducing the time limit, changing measurements and generally making the project more complex.
Kate said she was very happy with her silver medal, as she was up against the best carpentry students across the country.
Now that she’s out of school, Kate said she intends to pursue her passion for carpentry as a career and intends to apply for a carpentry program at college.
