Area students put skills to the test
The Career Transitions South West Regional Skills Competition was in full swing at Lethbridge College Wednesday morning with more than 100 students from southwestern Alberta taking part.
The competition allows high school students to compete in skill areas as diverse as baking, electrical engineering or hairstyling for a chance to test their efforts in an adjudicated, high-pressure atmosphere.
“There are about 102 amazingly talented young people here today who are showing their skills in 13 different skill areas,” said Career Transitions executive director Judy Stolk-Ingram. “We are promoting skilled trades and technologies as a first-choice career pathway. We want students to know what the opportunities are (out there).”
Chef Duane Emard of Paradise Canyon was the skills expert for the culinary arts competition. He said he wished there was something like this skills competition around when he was in high school, which is why he decided to lend a hand on Wednesday.
“I have been the industry for 30 years, and when I was in high school I didn’t ever experience anything like this,” he said. “I didn’t even know what I wanted to do. Seeing these students at this level, doing the dishes they can do, is inspiring for the future of culinary arts.”
For Kate Andrews High School student Kaya Ficek this was her second year competing in the hairstyling junior braiding category. She credits the competition with helping her evolve her art and her skills dramatically the past few years.
“Throughout the years I have competed, I have improved,” she said. “And it has been a lot fun. The pressure makes me improve and makes me braid better and make better designs.”
The top three competitors in every category will move on to compete at provincials in May, and if they succeed there will have the chance to compete in nationals in June.