They got Skills

Sturgeon and St. Albert students are sharpening their skills this week in preparation for next week's provincial Skills tournament.

The 2016 Alberta Provincial Skills Canada Competition is next week, and about 10 Sturgeon and St. Albert students will be there to prove that they're the best there is at what they do.

The annual event brings hundreds of Alberta high-school and post-secondary students together to compete in timed challenges of baking, cabinet making, welding, pipefitting, and 40 other trade-based skills over two days. Winners get fame and a shot at the national Skills tournament in Moncton.

It's a chance for kids to meet others who share their passions and see how they stack up against them, said Greg Boutestein, teacher at Morinville Community High School. It also lets them explore future careers.

“It's a fantastic opportunity.”

MCHS will have three competitors in the challenge this year.

Grade 12 student Alyssa Ralph is back for a second shot at the provincial graphic design title.

“I didn't place very high last year, so I wanted to see if I could get in again and do better this time,” she said.

A budding artist, Ralph regularly takes on freelance graphic design gigs for practice, and is currently working on a new logo for St. Albert's Vital Grandin School.

For her event, she'll have to design a logo, brochure, and other promotional items for a simulated company in a set amount of time, said Boutestein, who has helped organize Skills tournaments.

“You have to be a fairly well-rounded graphic design student to succeed,” he said, and excellent at time management.

MCTV stars Skylar Luomala and Ben Lawrence will be ready for their close-ups as they compete in TV/Video Production at the event.

Luomala said she loves watching movies, and was inspired to look into many different careers after watching documentaries of them on TV. Eventually, she figured out that she was more interested in filming those careers than doing them.

“You get to create your own story and shape it how you want to see it,” she said of video production.

“It kind of becomes your child.”

Luomala and Lawrence will have to create a video (which could be anything from a news report to a dramatic film) on a set theme under a short time limit.

“Me and Ben, we're not the best team, we have a hard time communicating,” Luomala said. This was also their first time at provincials. Still, given that they got first at regionals, she said she was optimistic about their chances.

Paul Kane is fielding five students this year, including first-time hairstyling competitor Brendon Armstrong.

“I'm a very hands-on person,” Armstrong said, and he enjoys the social aspect of hairstyling.

“Being able to make someone feel kind of beautiful in the end of it all, it's just something that I find very appealing and pretty awesome.”

Armstrong said he's been putting in many hours after school practicing on mannequins in preparation for next week, where he'll have to complete four unique hairstyles: a women's bridal, a men's classic, and a women's and men's cut-and-colour. Each will have mystery elements that competitors will draw out of a hat on the day of competition.

The cut-and-colours are freeform events where you can make crazy styles you wouldn't see outside of a fashion show, Armstrong explained. The challenge comes in making a style that stands out but still meets all the requirements of the judge.

Grade 10 student Adam Mitchell has been over in the Paul Kane kitchen practicing for the culinary arts challenge. He'll have just seven hours to create clam provençal, sautéed spinach, gratin dauphinois, roast pork tenderloin, and a mystery cake from scratch.

“I am getting quite tired of making the same thing,” he said of practicing for the event.

Mitchell said he's picked up a lot of tips on knife use and flavour combinations through Skills, and hoped to place in the top 10 at provincials.

The Skills tournament runs this May 11 and 12 at the Edmonton Expo Centre.