Loyalist skills competition a big success, says organizers

By Meagan Pecjak

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (02/02/12) - Myles McMurter (left) is shown how to properly build a dog house by Tammy Hurrell during the I'm Set Up for College event held at Loyalist. photo by Meagan Pecjak

Loyalist College held the first annual Skills Competition on Friday.

High school students came from surrounding areas, and competed for the top spot in their section.

There were several other divisions during the event including: precision machining, welding, two-person carpentry, four-person carpentry, architectural computer-aided drafting and design (CADD), automotive, and esthetics.

Carpentry was just one of the many sections that made up the competition.

Andrew McFarland is a graduate of Loyalist College and was called to the school to judge the four-person carpentry division.

“It gives hands-on experience. It’s good to know what they want to do after high school.”

McFarland said he saw a lot of talent, but he was most impressed by the levels of safety the students took while working.

“Everyone is being safe with how they are doing everything,” he said.

Joe Mullin was the announcer during the awards ceremony held after the competition, and is a food apprenticeship program teacher at the college.

“It introduces them to ideas they may not have thought of previously,”said Mullin.

Mullin also said it gives students more confidence in the trades, and increases their ability to go into a career in that field.

“It drives the fear out when it comes to college,” Mullin said.

“It’s building that confidence, and taking it to the next level. It gets the students involved hands on.”

The competition was originally going to be held Thursday, but because of weather conditions was moved to the following day.

“In spite of the change of date, there’s a great turnout,” said Loyalist College board chairman Stuart Wright.

Wright said such events really bring people to the college and give some great exposure.

The awards ceremony followed the competition, and involved medals in third, second, and first place for each category.

Treena Chicoyne-Ellis is the skills competition co-ordinator at the college, and played a big role when it came to pulling the event together.

Chicoyne-Ellis said several others that also did their part when it came to making the day a big success were: John Poste, John Greive, Chuck Barsony, Tom Falcao, Len Rance and Melanie Kennedy.

“Without all of these people, the day would not have been such a success. I am proud that I was given the opportunity to work with each one of them. They had a lot of work besides their everyday teaching,” said Chicoyne-Ellis.

Chicoyne-Ellis said she believes that the day went smoothly.

“The students were worried. They didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t for marks, and it wasn’t for grading. It was about seeing the brand-new equipment they could work with,” said Chicoyne-Ellis.

She also said the most important thing about entering the competition is the knowledge that students receive.

“They met all the faculty and they received the awareness, and what they can have when they come to Loyalist, and what they can accomplish with the skills.”

Chicoyne-Ellis said that before the awards were presented, there was a relaxed feeling among the crowd.

“It was a great feeling to see all the students sitting in rows at the end of the competition, just smiling and talking.”

Some of the winners of the competition include: Ian Brennan, Vince Kennelly, Nathaniel Brennan and Riley Hemmersbach of St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School. This group of students won the four-person carpentry division.

The four-person carpentry students were required to build a shed, but unfortunately were not given enough time to complete the project.

Chicoyne-Ellis said that it was one of the kinks organizers have to work out for next year.