Reaching for the top
Kivalliq students compete at national Skills Canada event
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
KIVALLIQ
Kivalliq students were front and centre of a strong showing by Nunavut at the Skills Canada national competition in Saskatoon from May 27 to 30.
Eden Okatsiak of Arviat gives her mannequin a creative look in hairstyling at the Skills Canada national competition in Saskatoon this past month. - photo courtesy of Kimberley Dymond |
Team Nunavut won the Spirit Award for an impressive third time in the past four years at the event and Iqaluit's Matilda Pinksen took home a bronze medal for her efforts in graphic design.
Arviat sent five students to the competition (Ethan Tassiuk, Elena Akammak, Kyle Schaubroeck, Eden Okatsiak and Damaris Nutarasungnik), while Rankin Inlet sent two (Precious Maningas and Amiel Hernandez).
Teacher Gord Billard said he was very proud of the effort put in by the Nunavut students.
He said it's a special feeling to hear Team Nunavut being called as winners of the competition's Spirit Award.
"A lot of the award is based on how much social media you put out there, and how much effort you put into getting the word out on what's going at the national competition," said Billard.
"Our team was constantly tweeting, posting on Facebook and sending out pictures of what was happening.
"Apparently, we were the team to do the most of that and it helped lead to us getting the Spirit Award."
Billard said the teachers always emphasize to the students that Skills Canada is not solely about winning medals.
He said winning the territorial competition and getting to attend the national event is the big thing, because earning the right to take part in such a large national event is a huge accomplishment in itself.
"We got the message across that they should feel very proud about getting this far, having the experience of coming to a major city in southern Canada, and meeting, hanging out and competing with people from all over the country.
"The training is certainly not over after winning the territorial. If anything, we step it up more in preparation for the national event.
"So the students certainly develop their personal skill levels a great deal just by taking part in the process that leads to the Skills Canada national competition.
"It's a wonderful learning experience, from beginning to end, for our students to be involved with."
Billard said Arviat's Eden Okatsiak won the hairstyling competition in Iqaluit and is a wonderful example of how much training the students can receive in a short period of time.
He said well known professional hairstylist and long time territorial competition judge Suzanne Laliberte had Okatsiak and her coach, Kimberley Dymond, fly to her salon in Quebec for a few additional days of intensive training before heading to the national event.
"Hairstyling at the national competition level is a lot more demanding and involved at the national level than it is at the territorial, so Eden (Okatsiak) had to learn numerous new skills on things like different styles of cuts and hair colouring before heading to the national.
"So, in many cases, there's often extra training that happens for students who are heading for the national final.
"The majority of our students will be eligible to give it a shot again next year if they so desire, so this year's training will provide a solid foundation for them to build upon."
Fellow teacher Dymond said the Arviat students had a great time at the competition.
She said you can't help but feel a little proud when people are constantly complimenting your students.
"Every time I turned around when someone asked me where I was from or who I represented and said Nunavut, I was told how nice and polite our kids are," said Dymond.
"They were great ambassadors for the entire territory, as well as our community.
"We had one teacher who was pregnant and our students wouldn't even let her carry her own bags.
"They're just super kids, so that made winning the Spirit Award just that much more special."
Dymond agreed the Kivalliq students really improved their own skill levels by taking part in the entire Skills Canada process.
She said they were up against students who were already apprenticing in the skill they were competing in, or were being taught by people working within those jobs.
"Seeing the calibre they were competing against, and understanding what they had to do to build toward that level, was great for them.
"They may have been a little scared when they first arrived, but, by day two, they had all pretty much said all they could do was go out and try their best.
"Nobody quit. They all completed their projects and we were very proud of them.
"It's a tough event, and having to speak English all the time was also hard for our students because they're used to speaking in their own language about 50 to 70 per cent of the time at home."
