Students Put Their Hands-On Skills to the Test

Posted On Thursday June 13, 2019
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Clara-Ann Woolsey from Port Perry HS focuses during the Hairstyling competition on May 7th at the Toronto Congress Centre.

DDSB students participate in the Skills Ontario Competition in Toronto

From May 6-8, elementary and secondary students from across the province gathered at the Toronto Congress Centre to participate in the largest skilled trade and technology competition in Canada.

The Skills Ontario Competition presents students with the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and aptitude in a particular field to their families, educators, industry reps, and judges. Winners are awarded gold, silver, or bronze medals and most gold medalists have the chance to compete at the Skills Canada National Competition (not all provincial competitions have a national competition). This year the Skills Ontario Competition celebrated its 30th anniversary, and brought in over 2,400 competitors, and over 35,000 spectators.

First Up: Elementary Students

Over 30 Durham District School Board (DDSB) elementary students competed on May 6th.

“This was the DDSB’s first experience competing at the Elementary Skills Ontario Competition,” explains Kim Stuart, Student Success Lead at the DDSB. Stuart adds, “Having never competed on this provincial stage before, our 32 student competitors shone and we earned a silver medal from students at Prince Albert Public School in the Grade 4-6 Technology Design & Build team challenge.” Using gears, levers, and pulley systems, students created a crane that could transport sandbags through high water to protect properties. “The scopes that they’re executing are practical and applicable to the world that we live in, and the society that they will contribute to,” says Stuart.

Also in the elementary competition, S.A. Cawker PS took home a bronze medal in the Grade 7/8 Construction team challenge and six of the eight teams placed in the top 10.

Secondary Students Get Their Turn

The following day, over 40 DDSB secondary students took on challenges including carpentry, graphic design, plumbing, hairstyling, and so much more.

Mikayla Viglasky, a Grade 11 student at Sinclair Secondary School, competed in the Job Skill Demonstration category. “I chose to make a watermelon feta mint salad with balsamic reduction and mint dressing because it’s simple, but each ingredient consists of each of the taste senses,” explains Viglasky. The Grade 11 student demonstrated how to create the salad, and explained why she used those specific flavours to a panel of hungry judges and spectators.

Viglasky had been training for this challenge since the beginning of January with the help of her Teacher-Coach Michael Holmes. “These competitions take a lot of time, not just my time as a mentor/coach, but also her preparation on top of being an academic student. She found the time to practice what to say, and memorize the physical skill. Talking while you’re demonstrating something is challenging. I’m so blown away by what she’s been able to achieve,” enthuses Holmes.

The judges must have thought the same as Holmes, because Viglasky ended up taking home a bronze medal in the Job Skill Demonstration challenge.

But the medals don’t end there; DDSB secondary students also achieved a bronze medal in Baking (Carleigh Higgins from Uxbridge SS), a bronze medal in Electronics (Ria Upreti from Pickering High School), and a bronze medal in Plumbing (Josh Manlapaz from Ajax HS).

Jennifer Parrington, Technological Education Facilitator at the DDSB, says she’s seeing more secondary students getting involved with the skilled trades through these competitions, “Students on their own are coming forward and telling teachers that they want to compete. We have grown in the last four years from participating in 17 competitions, to this year being in 38 different competitions. There is a combined total of 75 DDSB elementary and secondary students competing.” Parrington adds, “The change in numbers is dramatic and incredible.”