Orrie Babichuk, a Grade 12 student in Invermay, completed his second straight gold medal performance in the outdoor power and recreation equipment category at the provincial Skills Canada competition in Saskatoon on April 6-7.
The competition gives students from all across Canada the opportunity to compete and excel in over 40 different trades and technologies, including everything from carpentry to cooking to graphic design, said Babichuk. At provincials, he faced a dozen other competitors in his class. Organizers claim this is the only national multi-trade competition for students and apprentices in Canada.
The talented teenager chose the outdoor power and recreation equipment category for his specialty, which focuses to a large extent on small engines. Since he hails from a family farm just outside Invermay, Babichuk had plenty of opportunities to develop his mechanical interest as a youngster. His parents are Jason and Cindy Babichuk
Babichuk said during the competition, he and his opponents were required to tear down a small engine, put it back together according to the manufacturer’s specifications, identify various engine parts, test them for weakness or defect, and answer 200 written questions on everything from valves to crankshafts and engine wear.
Growing up on a farm did a lot to get him interested in engines initially, but Babichuk gives much of the credit for his success in Skills Canada competitions to Cecil Machnee, industrial arts teacher at Canora Composite School.
Since Invermay School doesn’t have a shop program, or even a shop, Babichuk and his classmates take their mechanics training from Machnee. Whenever they need to do some shop work, the Invermay group makes the 56 km drive from Invermay to CCS. He said Machnee encouraged him to enroll in the program, and has been helping him improve his skills ever since.
Skills Canada actively promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies, said Machnee. Positioned between the public and private sectors, its goal is to secure Canada’s future skilled labour needs while helping youth discover rewarding careers.
Machnee said he finds it inspiring that a student from Invermay, a small village with a population of less than 300, can achieve such consistent success competing against peers from much larger centres. Enrollment at Invermay school is usually less than 100 for kindergarten to Grade 12. Even so, Babichuk is not the first Invermay student to excel in this competition. In 2014 and 2015, Austin Swiderski of Invermay won consecutive provincial gold medals in the outdoor power and recreation category, a feat which Babichuk matched in 2016 and 2017.
And since the gold medal winners in each category move on to the national competition, Babichuk will be competing against his peers from across Canada from May 31 to June 3 in Winnipeg.
He says it’s a lot of fun meeting people his own age from across the country who have similar interests, but the hard-working teenager is also focused on doing his very best in the competition. Babichuk finished fourth nationally in 2016, and has every intention of improving on that result in Winnipeg.
