Two students from St. Timothy Jr. Sr. High School got to show off their shop class expertise while competing against their Calgary and area counterparts.
The Skills Canada regional event, which took place at SAIT over the weekend, marked the boys first time competing in a trade at this level.
Zach Barry, Grade 11, competed in welding jr. category where he was given five hours to complete a practical examine testing the students’ abilities and safety skills in the trade.
“MIG welding is definitely my favourite,” Barry said. “It definitely showed me what to expect for next year and how well other kids around the community are doing.”
MIG welding is an arc welding process in which a continuous solid wire electrode is fed through a welding gun and into the weld pool, joining the two base materials together.
Chris Nowicki, Grade 10, competed in the carpentry competition where he had five hours to build a small table.
“It was fun it was a good experience. I like construction so I might try to do the program in Grade 11,” Nowicki said, adding he’ll likely pursue carpentry at SAIT in the future.
Doug Altrogge, the shop instructor, said the students are hard workers and was pleased they were committed to compete during their spring break.
“This is a perfect example right now - during the lunch hour they eat their lunch as fast as they can and then they have some free time in here,” said Altrogge.
“They’re very passionate about … They’ve really come to love it.”
While neither of the boys placed, they each hope to compete again next year.
