This year’s group consists of four middle school students and seven secondary students from Dawson Creek Secondary School (DCSS); three secondary school students from North Peace Secondary School (NPSS); six post-secondary trades students from Northern Lights College (NLC), and five coaches/staff members.
“This is a very talented team of students that will be representing the Peace Region,” said Jamie Maxwell, Skills Canada coordinator for the Peace Region. “The competitors heading to Abbotsford won gold medals in the recent regional competition held in March, or are top students who were nominated by instructors, in the case of some of the post-secondary events.”
Team members include:
Junior Skills
- Gravity Vehicle Race: Hudson Henderson and Kevin White (DCSS, Central Campus)
- Spaghetti Bridge: Caleb Willms and Skyler Chowace (DCSS, Central Campus)
Secondary Skills
- Architectural CAD: Raz Petrick (DCSS, South Peace Campus)
- Automotive Service: Jess Robinson (NPSS)
- Baking: Kathryn Stickel (NLC/NPSS Dual Credit)
- Cabinetmaking: Jarred Sutherland (DCSS, South Peace Campus)
- Carpentry: Matt Link (NLC/DCSS Dual Credit)
- Hairdressing: Brooke Copeland (NPSS)
- TV/Video Production: James Ashwell and Nick Tutin (DCSS, South Peace Campus)
- 2D Computer Animation: Korynn Oberle and Zac Shwartz (DCSS, South Peace Campus)
Post-Secondary Skills
- Aircraft Maintenance: Luke Larsen, Maverick Millen, David Hill (all from NLC)
- Carpentry: Ben Scholten (NLC)
- Electrical Wiring: Jacob Elliot (NLC)
- Hairdressing: Meesha Beaulieu (NLC)
Coaches/Staff: Jamie Maxwell, DCSS South Peace Campus; Shaun Henry, DCSS Central Campus; Robert McAleney, NLC Electrical instructor; Jerri Kurtz, NLC Cosmetology instructor; and Kara Myllimaki, NPSS.
The Skills Canada Peace Region includes School Districts 59, 60 and 81, and NLC. This is the third year that a full Peace Region team has travelled to the provincial championships. Gold medalists at the provincials will be offered the chance to compete at the Canadian Skills Competition being held in Vancouver at BC Place Stadium on June 5-8.
Over the years, the Peace Region has had a number of provincial gold medalists, including: Tyler Marion, 1999, Carpentry (advanced to the Worlds); Katherine Finke, 2010, Cabinetmaking; and Andrew Lines, 2011, Aircraft Maintenance (earned silver at Nationals).
Funding to host the Regional event and to travel to the Provincials comes from a variety of sources, including: Encana Corporation, School Districts 59 and 60, DCSS Parent Advisory Committee, Browns’ Chevrolet, Canadian Tire, Peavey Mart, Software Emporium, Mii Spa, Boston Pizza, Mr. Mikes, Skin Ovations, Brown’s Social House, Canada Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, Capitol Motors, NP Group, R-Home Supply, Napa Auto Parts FSJ, Snap-On Tools FSJ, Dawson Co-op and Dorian Anderson Construction.
The Peace Region team will be gathering in Energy House at NLC’s Dawson Creek Campus on Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30 am for a photo and sendoff prior to departing for Abbotsford.
Skills Canada British Columbia (Skills BC) is a non-profit organization that partners with government, educators, private industry and labour to promote and celebrate the skilled trades and technologies as first choice career opportunities for young people across the province. As a means of helping to offset current and pending labour shortages in skilled labour in the province, Skills BC offers positive and exciting hands-on experiences to thousands of students annually. For more information, go to www.skillscanada.bc.ca.
Competitors in the recent in the Peace Region competition, in events including Hairdressing, Carpentry and Baking
