For the seventh straight year, Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) hosted some of the region's most talented students, who put their hands and minds to work at the Regional Skills Canada event on March 13.
Competitions were held in welding, cabinetmaking, carpentry and mechanical computer assisted drafting (CAD) and featured contestants from HSSS and the Sunshine Coast.
It was a clean sweep for HSSS students in both the welding and mechanical CAD competitions. Students were given the task of welding together a stand showcasing their skills and mechanical CAD competitors had to design an iPhone case.
HSSS student Brandon Murray won gold in welding, with HSSS students Taylor Marshall and Travis Clark picking up the silver and bronze, respectively. In mechanical CAD, Luc Harvey won the gold, with Danio Yang winning silver and Conner Seatle winning bronze.
Carpentry competitors had to put together a sawhorse, while cabinet-making participants had to create a sliding lid box.
Jack Hunt from HSSS picked up the silver in cabinet making, finishing just four points behind winner Dustin Sigurdson from the Sunshine Coast Alternative School (SCAS). Haden Bush from SCAS won the bronze. Carpentry was a sweep for SCAS, with students Sean Parfitt, Aaron Pazur and Raven DiPietro finishing at the top.
All of the winners advance to the provincial competition in Abbotsford on April 9, with the nationals occurring in Ontario in June.
In related news, HSSS and 115 other schools were designated as winners of a fundraising website page to help upgrade aging tools and machines in the school's shops from the Construction Foundation of B.C.
Technology Education teacher Vicki Schenk said that although much of the equipment in her shops is in decent shape, much of it is decades old and is in need of an upgrade. She said she hopes local businesses and citizens can offer to help her students move forward with more modern equipment.
The fundraising website can be found at www.projectshopclass.com/schools/van/howesound. The ultimate goal for the page is to help raise $295,550. Donors can offer money to the general fund or can specifically help out by purchasing items ranging from strikers for $50 to a CNC plasma cutter for $39,000.
Stay posted to The Chief for details on how Murray and Harvey fare at the provincial event in April.
