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Teen takes first for safety

Youngest competitor gets gold at national competition

Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 05/02) - A Yellowknifer struck gold last weekend in the Skills Canada national competition in Vancouver.

Mara Smith, 15, was the youngest person to make the journey and the only Yellowknifer to ever win a gold medal in the national competition.

In Vancouver, Smith faced eight other people and took home the gold medal in the workplace safety event.

She wrote a 20-minute theory exam on general knowledge of health and safety issues and inspected a mock workplace. Smith identified hazards and recommended what to do to control the particular hazard.

Lastly, she talked about a health and safety topic given to her by a judging committee. Smith is on the NWT Nunavut Workers' Compensation Board Youth Committee.

It was the first year the Northwest Territories competed in the safety event.

Skills Canada promotes trades training. It's a national organization paid for by employers, labour groups and government. It's all about finding the right skilled person for the job.

The NWT has been reeling from a trades labour shortage and the competition promotes youth to look at trades as a viable career option.

Welding, carpentry, hair styling and electrical trades are just a few of the trades in the events.

Chris Fournier and James Cracknell are also Grade 10 students from Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife. The pair brought home bronze medals in Web page design. They produced a Web site displaying information about a specific event at the Skills Canada competition.

There was also one bronze medallist from Nunavut.