Selkirk College Welding Students Earn Medals in Skills Competition
A pair of students in Selkirk College’s Welder Foundation Program returned home from the East Kootenay last month with two medals in the annual Skills BC Competition.
Tristan Makeiv and Jacob Streleoff are first-year students at the Silver King Campus in Nelson. Using the skills and education acquired in the first six months of the program, the locals traveled to College of the Rockies in Cranbrook in early-March for the competition that brings together students from across the province.
After both practical and written challenges were completed, Makeiv came away with the welding silver medal and Streleoff with the bronze.
“Watching my students compete is very exciting. It's like being placed in the real world, if only for a short period,” says Selkirk College Welding Program instructor Colin Makeiv. “The battle for top spot was so very close, to have a silver and bronze medal from Selkirk College is still gold medal standards in this instructor’s eyes.”
A Practical Testing Ground for Students
The Skills BC Competition has been taking place since 1994 with support from industry, educators, government and labour to promote the rewards of in-demand skilled trade and technology careers. Each year, 14 Olympic-style competitions are held in communities throughout the province in wide range of disciplines from cooking and carpentry to fashion technology and robotics. The top high school and post-secondary students also compete on a national stage.
The two recent Selkirk College competitors join a long list of other successful local students who have taken part in competitions regionally, provincial and nationally in previous years.
“Jacob and Tristen are excellent students who deserve this moment of recognition,” says their veteran welding instructor. “Both have since secured work in their field of welding and are doing quite well. I look forward to watching them complete their education and flourish in their careers.”
Selkirk College offers a range of welding program options at the Silver King Campus including Welder Foundation, Youth Train in Trades and three levels of Apprenticeship Welder. Intakes for the programs begin a different times during the year.