It was as easy as one, two, three… at least that’s how Huntsville High School (HHS) students Matt Morgan, Jordan Aubin-Vardy and Scott MacDonald made it appear when the trio took first, second and third respectively in a school board welding competition.
The Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) competition – held at Georgian College’s Midland campus on March 3 – pitted students from Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School and Fenelon Falls Secondary School (Kawartha Lakes) against one another. It’s the first time a TLDSB qualifier has been held for welding – in the past students have gone straight to a Skills Ontario regional qualifier on the recommendation of their teacher. With their wins, Morgan, Aubin-Vardy and MacDonald will progress to this year’s Skills Ontario regional qualifier on April 1 to represent both HHS and TLDSB, also in Midland. A top three finish there will earn a spot at the provincial Skills Ontario competition May 1-3 in Toronto.
Students from the three schools were required to complete a weldment with flat, horizontal and
vertical SMAW and GMAW welding processes based only on a blueprint; they had just five hours to complete a layout and welding without assistance. “Mac Greaves of Georgian College graciously allowed the school students to experience working in the college facility for the day,” said HHS Welding teacher Jim Milne. “I was extremely proud of their ability to problem solve and troubleshoot on the spot in a highly competitive competition.”
Scott MacDonald said that the HHS sweep of the competition was exciting. “It was a good moment. We were proud that we got to represent the school in the competition and being able to sweep the board, that was pretty special. It was a good feeling.”
He credited the HHS shop and teacher Jim Milne for teaching them the skills to be able to compete well. “In my opinion it’s the best shop north of the GTA. It’s a big shop, has lots of equipment, and we do stuff you’d actually do in real life instead of just sticking with the textbook,” said MacDonald, who is currently doing a co-op placement with the Town of Huntsville and has been accepted to a welding program at Conestoga College in Kitchener for the fall.
Milne says his goal is for his students to have real-world skills by the time they graduate. “I’m confident in the students’ ability that when they leave here they are ready to go on a first-year apprenticeship. They can leave here with a Level 1 Flat CWB welding ticket – most colleges only offer that after one year. We have about a 30 per cent pass rate (for the ticket); at the first time provincially, the pass rate is about 10 per cent.”
In addition to a shot at getting that Level 1 ticket, students in the Specialist High Skills Major program in Manufacturing also receive a variety of other certifications including confined spaces, first aid and CPR, all while working on projects that give them a taste of what their future employment could be like.
“We build trailers for the school board, for camps at Algonquin Park, fire hose racks for the firehouses around town,” said Milne. “We always take on community projects – I feel that those big projects give the students a better experience and it’s relevant to what they’d be doing once they leave high school.”
Milne wants the Skills Ontario competitions to be a positive experience for the students, too. “I do stress to them that I prefer they just enjoy the day and then whatever comes. I would be hopeful we would take it on to the next stage and go to the provincial again.” This will be the seventh year HHS has been at the Skills Ontario regional competition. HHS students have placed top three for the past six years in a row, three of those years in first place in a region that covers from Huntsville to just south of Barrie and from Owen Sound to Peterborough.
MacDonald says they’ll keep practicing the same way they have been and they’ll be looking for another sweep.
At the Skills Ontario regional competition, students from Small Engines, Baking and Culinary Arts will also represent HHS; Precision Machining, Photography, Home Building and Auto Service Technician students will first have a board qualifier on April 4 to vie for spots at the regionals.
Eleven HHS students competed in various disciplines at the provincial Skills Ontario competition in 2016. Culinary student Caitlyn Gill made it all the way to the Skills Canada competition, placing second in the country in her category.
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CONGRATULATIONS FOR SUCH A GOOD JOB!!
Welders are very necessary for a lot of industry and it is good to see you guys do well.
Hope for success for you at the next competition.