Garneau Shows Their Skills

On 8 March, four Marc Garneau students competed in the annual Skills Canada tournament at Western Collegiate Institute for the opportunity to move on to the Provincial competition.

Skills Canada is a tournament for high school students that promotes careers in technology and skilled trade areas. There are over fifty competitions based on the many different trades and divided into four categories: communication, mechanical, hospitality, and construction. However, Marc Garneau only selected Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) students for their competition. Split into two teams, they took part in 3D Animation Character and TV and Video Production.

Both Marc Garneau teams received gold in their respective events. This is the second year in a row that the 3D Animation team won gold, qualifying for the Provincial competition. The TV and Video Production team improved from last year’s silver but will have to participate in another qualifying round proceed to Provincials. “I feel very proud,” said TV and Production team member, Zaid Irfani Baig, when asked about the results, “I have been competing for the last two years and I finally received gold in my final year of high school.” This year, Provincials will be held on 1 to 3 May at the Toronto Congress Centre. Successful provincial competitors will join Team Canada at the World Skills competition in Dubai this summer.

While Skills Canada isn’t a club at Marc Garneau, it is involved with the SHSM program provided by the Technology department. Students can participate by selecting an event from a list that is sent to every school. They then need to select a coach who will support and help them as well as traveling with competitors the day of.

Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding success at Skills Canada:

Zaid Irfani Baig and Kayne-Alleyne Adams: TV and Video Production, 1st Overall

Ali Kahil and Kifaayat Kaafi Hamid: 3D Animation Character, 1st Overall