UCDSB Students Nail it at SKLZ Carpentry, Gear Up for Skills Ontario Finals

Kanata – This week, Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) students showed off their carpentry and woodworking skills at the Eastern Ontario SKLZ competition, a continuation of the SKLZ competition held last month in Cornwall.

The event, held March 20 at the Carpenter’s Union 93 in Kanata, was in collaboration with the UCDSB, Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario and UBC Built, presented by DeWalt. Approximately 110 participants from both school boards across the region showcased their skills in four different woodworking trades. With representation from 11 out of 22 secondary schools, UCDSB had about 49 students compete at the event.

Aydon Whitman and Andrew Harper, Grade 12 students at Rideau District High School competed in the Team of Two Carpentry event and were tasked with building a picnic bench with a round top. For both students, this was their first time and said their goal for the day was to simply complete the project.

Outside of having a familiarity with power tools, both students said having a positive mindset, patience and confidence were important.

“If you mess up, you mess up. You learn from it,” says Harper. Whitman and Harper both said they would encourage any student considering competing in a similar event to do it. “New experiences are good,” says Whitman. “Take every opportunity you’re given.”

Grade 12 students Eleni Fourkiotis and Erin Libbey from St. Lawrence Secondary also participated in the Team of Two Carpentry. With Fourkiotis wanting to be a carpenter and Libbey planning to pursue a career in civil engineering, the students described the event as “new and improved.” They liked the spacious location and quality materials and tools. The duo won bronze at the SKLZ event last year.

Two students from Glengarry District High School and Almonte District High School will be moving on to the qualifying Skills Ontario competition in Kingston on April 13. One individual from Tagwi Secondary School and two teams from North Grenville District High School and Tagwi SS are moving on to the Skills Ontario competition in Toronto this May.

UCDSB results from the competition are as follows:

Individual Carpentry

Gold – Cohen Williams from Glengarry District High School (Advancing to Provincial Qualifier)

Silver – Craig Villeneuve from Almonte District High School (Advancing to Provincial Qualifier)

Bronze – Cody Devries from St. Lawrence Secondary School

Cabinet making

Gold – Emerson Beckstead from Tagwi Secondary School (Advancing to Skills Ontario)

Silver – Alexis Smith from Glengarry District High School

Bronze – Twyla Lalonde from Rockland District High School

Team of Two Carpentry

Silver – Sam Kirk and Nathan Rogers from North Grenville District High School (Advancing to Skills Ontario)

Home and Team Building

Gold – Tagwi Secondary School – Josh Sauve, Nevan Lalonde, Ian Casselman and Kash Anderson (Advancing to Skills Ontario)

Silver – Rockland District High School – Alex Stocker, Sean Kinney and Michael Luloff