Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 14/99) - According to Melanie Ridgeley, president of the Skills Canada board for the NWT, the trip that sent 37 top technology and trade students to Kitchener, Ont., June 2-6 to represent Nunavut/NWT in the fifth annual Canadian Skills Competition was an overwhelming success.

"We had two silver and one bronze medal for the Canadian Skills Competition," Ridgeley said. "We also had three medal winners from the North in the Construction Technology for Women, which is great."

Tye Barnes from Inuvik got a silver for his category in electrical wiring; Daniel T'seleie, from Yellowknife, got a bronze for principles in technology; and Jennifer Lockhart, also from Yellowknife, got a silver in ladies hairstyling. In the Construction Technology for Women category, Ashley Brebner got a silver in her provincial and territorial mixed team, Ray Braden got the silver, and Amy Collins got the gold. All women in this category are from Yellowknife.

Melanie Ridgeley says the competition meant a lot more than a free trip and fun and games to the students.

"The purpose of these competitions is to raise the profile of trades and technologies," Ridgeley said. "That's what Canada needs right now. we are lagging behind in producing skilled workers in these areas.

"Taking these kids through the competition helps show what a top level performance is in these areas. A lot of high school grads are not going to university and we want to show that this is definitely a way for them to go. There is a very lucrative job market waiting for them."

For Ashley Brebner, the trip was well worth it.

"I never knew how to weld before and now I do," Brebner said. "I learned how to divide up the task at hand and work in teams."

To win her bronze, Brebner's team had to build a 20 by seven-foot communications tower from scratch, but it was not all hard work.

"We went sightseeing and took in a Blue Jays game," Brebner said. "It was a lot of fun."

Daniel T'seleie still can't believe that he had won a medal for his scientific paper outlining the principles of electro-magnetic induction.

"I did not expect to win a medal," T'seleie said. "It was a national competition. The best from all across Canada were there. I can't believe that the gave me a medal."