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Iqaluit students showcase skills at national competition Nunavut team wins Most Team Spirit for third year in a row
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 17, 2013
IQALUIT
On the second day of the 2013 Skills Canada competition in Vancouver, Shannon Barkley came up against a challenging opponent: mushrooms.
Cooking competitor Shannon Barkley of Iqaluit cleans her workspace after finishing another dish at the 2013 Skills Canada national competition in Vancouver, held June 5 to 8. - photo courtesy of Jennifer Patey |
The 18-year-old cooking competitor was tasked with preparing a cream of mushroom soup but an allergy to the fungus meant she would have to hand her finished product over for judging without being able to taste it first.
Despite the obstacle, Barkley fared well and finished in seventh place among 13 participants.
Although Skills Nunavut's results varied during the competition, the teammates consistently showed insurmountable aptitude in their ability to persevere and remain enthusiastic, an ability exemplified by Barkley's performance.
Jennifer Patey, the team's executive director, said competing against students who have an abundance of resources and time to dedicate to training is hard.
However, she said, "Our team did fantastic despite being up against teams of 300 like Ontario's. They cheered, tweeted and supported each other throughout the event. It was a really good team spirit."
It was so good, in fact, the Nunavut team received the Most Team Spirit award for the third year in a row.
Barkley was one of 12 members of the Nunavut team, the smallest of all the provinces and territories taking part in the June 5 to 8 event.
The two-time territorial gold medallist went to nationals for the first time in 2012 but didn't compete to the best of her abilities.
"I was freaking out because I was so stressed," she said.
This year, she went back for seconds and knew what to expect from the competition.
"I had an advantage because I knew the timings and how to handle the stress. Last year I was pretty much late for every recipe, but this year I was on time for all of them." Barkley had 10 minutes to complete each dish.
Following the territorial championship in late April, coach Aaron Watson received the scope documents - which outline the important information specific to the event - for nationals and the duo began training.
Barkley trained several hours per week by practising recipes and cooking for her family.
On the first day of the event, she showed up around 7 a.m. to get her station ready. Working in close proximity to other contestants, they have an opportunity to follow each other's progress.
Among the foods she had to prepare were a chicken stock, an omelet, a soup, gnocchi, vegetables and pan-fry chicken.
She said she had to wear gloves while handling the mushrooms but knew exactly which amount of seasonings to use.
"I'm really happy with my result because I'm pretty sure I finished in last place last year," she said.
Watson, who began coaching the Inuksuk High School student two years ago, said she's improved a lot over that period of time.
"She may not have medalled but she did perform well enough to be on par with all of her peers," he said.
"I was able to taste her food afterward and I was completely satisfied with it, I thought it tasted great. Her seasonings were perfect."
Participants are allowed to incorporate their own ideas into the recipes, as long as the fundamentals are followed, Watson added.
Steve Carter, who coached Nunavut's robotics team, said his students didn't get the results they had hoped for because of electrical problems.
"A lot of stuff moved around during the plane ride so when we got there, we had to rebuild our entire robot twice," he said.
"It's an amazing event though and the girls were really stressed out but they never gave up, they persevered and that was the key moment of the competition."
The team, which placed seventh in a field of eight teams, was made up of four Grade 11 girls from Inuksuk High School.
The goal was to use the robots to place as many small pallets in a row as possible, while competing against an opponent.
Carter said it came down to strategy and whoever was more consistent.
"They were very high calibre teams," he said. "Nerves play a huge role as well. I'm really proud of our team."
Students from across Canada competed in more than 40 trades ranging from welding to hairstyling to landscape gardening.
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