Hundreds of elementary, high school and post-secondary students take part annually in this province-wide event held at RIM Park in Waterloo .
Conestoga, as one of the event sponsors, plays a major role by supplying hundreds of computers and displays that help make the event a success. Contests offered at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition are designed to reflect a technical occupational path. Most contests are designed to include "national standards”, where possible, as benchmarks for contest specifications and judge criteria. Most contests include both theoretical components (approximately 15% scoring) and a practical component (approx. 85% scoring – including a job interview worth 5%).
In 15 years of OTSC involvement, Conestoga students have now garnered a grand total of 138 medals. This year's result consists of three gold, four silver and three bronze medals. The gold-medal winners will be part of Team Ontario at the 12th Skills Canada national competition, which takes place May 23-26 in Halifax.
The OTSC event, sponsored by Skills Canada - Ontario, took place in Waterloo on May 1-2 and involved more than 1,000 secondary and post-secondary participants in more than 40 competition categories, while attracting nearly 10,000 visitors.
The gold medal winners are:
• Aaron Engel of Woodstock, in the architectural computer-aided design drafting event;
• Brian Pinnell of Kitchener, in the electronics competition and
• Andrew St. Cyr of Waterloo, in the welding category.
The silver medal winners are:
• Gregory Dineen of Kenilworth, in the mechanical computer-aided design drafting event;
• Walter Ottiger of Rodney, in cabinetmaking;
• Jamie Perrault of Elmira, in the industrial wiring competition and
• John Vanderwoerd of Guelph, in architectural computer-aided design drafting.
Winning bronze medals are:
• Adam Bridgman of Kitchener, in mechanical computer-aided design drafting;
• Cameron Ewart of Dutton, in the industrial mechanic millwright event and
• Dawid Robczuk of Kitchener, in the electronics event.
Skills Canada is a voluntary association of educators, business and industrial leaders, and government representatives which aims to promote the value and importance of technical careers and education to young Canadians.
For more information about winners and the event itself, go to www.skillsontario.com .