Students from R.F. Staples (RFS) and Barrhead Composite High School headed to the Edmonton EXPO Centre on May 7 and 8 for the provincial skills competition.
R.F. Staples student Josef Pidsadowski took home bronze in the Carpentry competition, while his fellow teammate Madison Kolotyluk took home 18th.
The carpentry category is one that takes a long time to master. Kevin MacKenzie, the carpentry teacher, described how they were all given 12 hours to complete a project over the course of two days from a print. Part of his lessons is teaching the students how to read prints, do a cut sheet and a material list while also developing their own work schedules.
MacKenzie hand-picks the top students in his carpentry class who have the potential and drive to make it to the national level, working with them for over 200 hours before the competition begins.
One RFS student achieved a remarkable feat despite being in only the tenth grade. Karley Regimnald took home a resounding gold medal in the Intermediate Hairstyling competition. The assignment involved recreating a bridal hairstyle from a photograph.
Angela Labouxciere, a senior, placed fifth in the highly competitive and intense senior hairstyling category. Labouxciere completed four tasks in two days that included chemical texture with haircut, an elegant updo, a precise women's cut and colour and a replication of a men’s cut.
Students Claire Irwin and Thomas Perryman also competed in the photography competition, both placing in the top twenty. While the automobile technology competition saw Kole Carnegie and Adam Moscaluk place in the top ten.
MacKenzie credited his fellow colleagues who work with these students for all their hard work, “I love the skills team here, I work with the colleagues who are just as driven as I am to make sure that these students have a chance at having a medal of some sort.”
At Barrhead Composite High School, Riley Manz and Mike Knol finished in twelfth and thirteenth place for the automobile technology competition. Valeria Valdez Galaviz placed an impressive fourth in the workplace safety portion.
