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Peace Region team ready for Skills Canada provincial championships

On , In College News

Carpentry competitors at the Peace Region skills
event hosted at NLC on January 31.

DAWSON CREEK – Twenty-four competitors will comprise the 2014 Team Peace Region that will compete in a variety of skilled trades and technology competitions at the Skills Canada provincial championships at Tradex in Abbotsford on April 9.

The members of Team Peace Region include students from School Districts 59, 60 and 81, and Northern Lights College (NLC), along with seven coaches. Most competitors are gold medalists from the Skills Canada Regional competition held on January 31 at the Dawson Creek Campus of NLC.

The team is comprised of:

·      Caleb Willms and Skyler Chowace, SD 59 (Junior Division, Spaghetti Bridge)

·      Chase Gibson and Braden Querin, SD 59 (Junior Division, Gravity Vehicle)

·      Sarah Byng and Parker Brady, SD 59 (Junior Division, Sumo Robot)

·      Kyle Degirolomo, SD 59 (Secondary Division, Welding)

·      Zakary Schwartz and Ryan Leawood, SD 59 (Secondary Division, 2D Animation/Adobe Flash)

·      Payton Dekker, SD 59 (Secondary Division, Cabinetmaking)

·      Tory Mitchell, SD 60 (Secondary Division, Carpentry)

·      Nina Zhang, SD 59 (Secondary Division, Graphic Design)

·      Teressa Boring, SD 60 (Secondary Division, Hairdressing)

·      Danielle Napier and Madeline Craig, SD 59 (Secondary Division, TV/Video Production)

·      Robert McMullin, SD 60 (Secondary Division, Electrical Wiring)

·      Dustin Bramhill and Taylor Ohlmann, SD 81 (Secondary Division, Robotics)

·      Josh Belkin, NLC (Post-Secondary, Carpentry)

·      Chris Huisman and Benjamin Couturier, NLC (Post-Secondary, Aircraft Maintenance)

·      Cori Cardinal, NLC (Post-Secondary, Hairdressing)

·      Hayden Stebing, NLC (Post-Secondary, Electrical Wiring)

·      Candace Fowlow, NLC/SD 59 Dual Credit (Post-Secondary, Esthetics); and

·      Coaches Aaron Matthias, James McKechnie and James Maxwell from SD 59; Kara Myllimaki from SD 60; Pat Nelson from SD 81; and Robert MacAleney and Michelle Graham from NLC.

Secondary and Post-Secondary competitors who achieve a gold medal placing at the provincials have the chance to travel to the Skills Canada national competition in Toronto in June.

As well, for the first time, two SD 59 students will be attending the Women in Trades conference being held in conjunction with the Skills Canada event. Karissa Porteous, who has been accepted into Aircraft Maintenance Engineering at NLC, and Rebecca Holovaci, who been accepted into Automotive Service Technician at NLC, will be participating. The event connects female high school students with women who are employed in a diverse range of trades and technology sectors represented at the BC Skills competition.

The team will be departing for Abbotsford on Tuesday, April 8 from Energy House at NLC’s Dawson Creek Campus. Encana Natural Gas is a major sponsor of the Peace Region Skills Canada committee and a key supporter in helping competitors attend the provincials each year.