Orrie Babichuk, a 16 year-old Grade 11 student in Invermay, won the gold medal in the outdoor power and recreation equipment category at the provincial Skills Canada competition in Regina on April 21-22 and will be on his way to the national Skills Competition in Muncton, N.B. during the first week of June.
For Cec Machnee, his mechanics teacher, it was an especially proud moment since it was the third year in a row that one of his students won the provincial gold. The last two years, Austin Swiderski of Invermay won the gold medal. Several gold and silver medals had been won in the years prior.
Invermay students take their mechanics training from Machnee, the industrial arts teacher at Canora Composite School. For the classroom work, he travels to Invermay, but for the hands-on experience, the students travel to Canora.
The Invermay School already has five Skills Canada banners hanging in its gymnasium, said Machnee.
The win just further stresses the point that the tradition of excellence continues, Machnee said. When Julian Fidek won gold five years ago, coming from one of the smallest schools and defeating students from the biggest schools in the province, it may have seemed like a one-off. But then a Canora student won silver and last two years, Swiderski won gold.
“It really is quite prestigious for a small school like Invermay’s to beat out the biggest schools in the province,” said Machnee.
Machnee, who sits on the provincial organizing committee for Skills Canada and was recently elected to serve on the national committee, said it was nice to see several more smaller schools represented at the competition this year. A few of the smaller schools brought home medals.
The competition began with a written test, said Babichuk. They were given two hours to finish 20 questions covering everything from valves to crank shafts and piston wear.
