So
many people begin a dream by saying, ”I wish…” At
L.P. Miller High School,
three young men began a dream with “I
can.” And they did! Brendan, Stefan, and Vincent set
their goal to represent their school in the Provincial Skills
Canada competition in Saskatoon. Their combined “I
can” resulted in each winning gold medals. This entitled
them to represent this province at the National Canadian
Skills in Calgary, AB from May 25 to 28.
Brendan, grade 9, competed in Prepared
Speech. He was required to speak from 5-7 minutes on a set
topic. After the speech, the judges asked him two questions.
He was given a one minute time limit after each question
to convey his answers. Where most of the known world would
go into full panic mode at the mere thought of public speaking,
Brendan was composed, calm, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
In the weeks prior to the competition, he had been practicing
with family, coach, and then several classrooms to hone his
skills. All his hard work paid off, as he competed with conviction
against grade 12 students from across this country.
Stefan and Vincent, grade 12, chose to
compete in TV and Video production. They were required to
spend 12 hours creating a 3-5 minute promotional video that
conveyed the power and range involved in the World Skills
competition to be held in Calgary in September of 2009. Unlike
the other competitors who had as many as 2 advisors per student,
Stephen and Vincent are essentially self-taught in this area.
Using all their own equipment, they incorporated conversations,
stunning shots of the skills competitors, bilingual bits
with their ever present humour to create powerfully moving,
well crafted, information packed video. Obviously, a two-thumbs
up video.
Canada Skills is the only national, Olympic-style,
multi-trade and technology competition for young students
and apprentices in the country. The Canadian Skills
Competition is the main step in selecting the members of
Team Canada for the World Skills Competition that is held
every two years.
National Skills brings teams of competitors
from every province and territory to be challenged in all
areas of what we would traditionally term “the trades”.
Baking, small motor repair, electronics, welding, sheet metal
work, hair and esthetics, clothing design, airplane motor
repair, carpentry, computer 3D animation, IT technical support,
job skill demonstration, painting and design….the
list is very long. The opportunities are longer. Employers
scan these competitions to offer jobs to students. |