Students win at Skills Canada

Yorkton students came home with nine medals, including three gold, from the 2012 Skills Canada Provincial Competition last week.

The annual competition, held this year in Regina on March 15 and 16, is a showcase of Saskatchewan high school students' skills in trades and technology fields. Twenty-three students from Yorkton Regional High School and 13 from Sacred Heart High School participated.

In the end, gold medals went to the YRHS Robotics team (Taylor Pachal, Bo Chiasson, Rachel Machnee, and Jayden Leister), to YRHS photographer Yvette Bourque, and to Sacred Heart 3D Animation competitors Anthony Fetsch and Brandon Parfitt.

The winning YRHS robotics group went undefeated through nine rounds on Friday against 11 other teams.

Robotics competitors had to design a robot capable of picking up wooden blocks from the ground and dropping them onto a moving platform for points. The winning team's design was less complex than most robots in the competition, resembling a front-end loader with a trap door in the bucket.

"I guess the simplicity won it for us-and practice, too. We spent a lot of time practicing," said team member Jayden Leister.

The team, which has been working on its robot since September, has a few more weeks to refine its design before taking it to Nationals in Edmonton on May 13-16.

"Now I think we'll be a lot more focused. I'm really excited for it," said Leister.

"We're feeling pretty good. It seems a little crazy that we actually won. It was always a possibility, but we actually did it," added Rachel Machnee.

Competition in the 3D animation category this year consisted of just two teams, both from Yorkton: Sacred Heart's Anthony Fetsch/Brandon Parfitt duo, and repeat solo champion Gage Bush, who won bronze at last year's Nationals for YRHS.

It was not the first time the competitors had gone head-to-head.

"It was quite exciting to manage to beat him," said Parfitt.

Participants in the competition were given about seven hours to create a short animated film based on the theme of "Let's Get Going."

Eventually the Sacred Heart team settled on an Olympic setting for their animation, featuring sequences of pole-jumping, hurdles, tightrope walking, and weightlifting.

"We were kind of pressed for time because after you're done animating it you have to render it into a movie, which took a bit of time, but it worked out okay," said Fetsch.

The pair are uncertain if they will be able to attend the national competition in May. Fetsch has a provincial badminton competition that week, while Parfitt hopes to make it to the Provincial Drama Festival with the Sacred Heart club.

"If we can do both, it's going to be awesome," said Parfitt.

The Photography category was a new addition to the provincial competition this year. YRHS sent two competitors, Yvette Bourque and Hana Ruf, and took both first and second place.

Participants were asked to submit a set of ten photos taken during the competition at the SIAST Wascana campus. Bourque and Ruf, said teacher Chad McDowell, were the only competitors of the 13 to show "consistently great" photos.

"Hopefully this is the beginning of a winning streak [for YRHS]," said the teacher.

Because photography is a new event, Bourque will not have an opportunity to advance to Nationals.

Complete list of Yorkton medalists

Yorkton Regional High School

Robotics (Gold) - Taylor Pachal, Bo Chiasson, Rachel Machnee, and Jayden Leister.

Photography (Gold) - Yvette Bourque.

Photography (Silver) - Hana Ruf.

3D Computer Animation (Silver) - Gage Bush.

AST (Auto Service) (Silver) - Brady Teichroeb.

OPT (Outdoor Power and Recreational Equipment) (Silver) - Brandon Zrudlo.

Sacred Heart High School

3D Computer Animation (Gold) - Anthony Fetsch and Brandon Parfitt.

Graphic Design (Bronze) - Zac Hudy.

Robotics (Bronze) - Zac Smith, Daniel McCoshen, and Keyan Wasylenchuk.