Stadnyk shines at major carpentry competition

by KELLY FRIESEN

Journal editor

Dallas Stadnyk put the Humboldt Collegiate Institute on the map at the annual National Skills Competition held in Toronto on June 4-8. The Grade 12 student took home bronze after several vigorous competitions.

"It was a great feeling to get a medal this year," said Stadnyk, who had roughly 2000 people cheer for him and the other medal winners when he walked up to the podium in Toronto. "It was my first time in Toronto and was just a great experience."

Stadnyk undoubtedly made a lot of people proud, but especially his industrial arts and carpentry teacher, Brian Hinz.

"I am extremely happy and proud of Dallas and his accomplishments," said Hinz. "His experience shows pursuing a goal with hard work and dedication will pay off. Dallas has put in a tremendous amount of work over the past couple years developing critical and creative thinking skills related to carpentry. His successful development of these skills really becomes apparent through skills competitions at the provincial and national levels."

Stadnyk went into Toronto knowing what to expect as he finished fifth in the same competition last year, which took place in Vancouver.

"Last year was a good experience in Vancouver," said Stadnyk. "It helped for me to know what to expect this year."

Once Stadnyk arrived at the Toronto competition, which housed 42 different competition areas and had over 20,000 visitors, he spent 12 hours on intense blueprint reading and fabrication. He led the pack at the end of the first competition day by framing and sheeting his floor and walls. The second day of competition started with another strong push from Stadnyk. He placed his final piece of trim on his window in the last seconds while none of the other competitors were able to finish their projects. His speedy work combined with few mistakes propelled him into the running for a medal.

Stadnyk earned his ticket to the National Skills Competition by winning the Provincial Competition in Prince Albert on April 10-11. At the competition, he was given a blueprint and a pile of lumber to build a pergola bench in eight hours. Stadnyk competed his project well under the allotted time requirements and was presented with the gold medal in secondary carpentry at the evening's awards ceremony. This was the second consecutive year that he was awarded this particular award.

"It was great to win there (in PA)," said Stadnyk. "It was a confidence boost for going into the next competition."

From here, Stadnyk is going to continue to work towards his dream of owning a carpentry company once he graduates from high school at the end of June.

"I hope to get on with a company and start an apprenticeship this summer," said Stadnyk. "I eventually want to own my own carpentry company. That's the dream that I hope happens one day."