THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - There was nothing but medals for Deh Cho students who participated in a new regional competition.

Shianne Byland, right, and visual arts teacher Nathalie Lavoie display one of the photographs that helped Byland win first place in photography at the first annual South Slave and Deh Cho Regional Skills Competition. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

All seven students from the Deh Cho who competed in the first annual South Slave and Deh Cho Regional Skills Competition in Fort Smith on March 7 made the podium. The regional competition is an extension of the Territorial Skills Competition that Skills Canada holds yearly.

Approximately four years ago staff at Skills Canada Northwest Territories began talking about holding more events outside of Yellowknife, said Jan Fullerton, the organization's executive director.

Samuel Hearne Secondary School in Inuvik latched onto the idea and the first Beaufort Delta Regional Skills Competition was held in 2009. The regional competition modeled the territorial competition where students compete in a variety of skilled trades and technologies.

The benefits of a regional competition are that it makes the event more accessible geographically but also skill-wise. The regional criteria is a bit easier which allows students who haven't had the same exposure to training to compete, she said.

The competition has been successful in the Beaufort with schools and teachers reporting a variety of positive results including increased attendance, Fullerton said. This year, in partnership with Aurora College, the regional model was tested in the South Slave and Deh Cho.

Because it was new to teachers and students there were only 15 competitors from five communities including Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, Fort Smith and Lutsel K'e. Fullerton's goal is to double the attendance next year.

"The 15 who were there were great," she said.

The students competed in one of five areas including carpentry, cooking, graphic design, photography and workplace safety. Jamie Norwegian, 16, of Fort Providence won first place in graphic design.

Norwegian had never been to a Skills Canada competition before and only got a 20-minute crash course in graphic design a week before going. The challenge in the graphic design category was to design a book jacket using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

Norwegian said he grew more familiar with the programs as the competition progressed enabling him to finish his product in the early afternoon, well before the 4 p.m. deadline.

"It was good," Norwegian said about the competition.

He is now considering graphic design as a possible career path.

Other medal winners from Deh Gah School included Lyndsay Landry who placed third in graphic design, Roland Nadli and Leroy Landry who took first and second respectively in workplace safety, Trevor Bonnetrouge who finished first in post-secondary carpentry and Shawna McLeod who won bronze in photography.

The gold medal in photography went to Shianne Byland of Fort Simpson.

Byland, 14, who'd never been to the competition before, spent three weeks practising during and after school with the help of visual arts teacher Nathalie Lavoie to prepare. At the competition Byland had to produce a series of photos illustrating depth of field.

Byland said she was happy with her photographs and with her medal placement.

"I think it's something I'll continue to do for a long time," she said about photography.

Thomas Simpson School plans to send students to compete in both photography and graphic design at the territorial competition April 19.

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