Local man wins gold in Skills Canada Competition

Regional - Janelle Labelle editorial@pdgmedia.ca

The Skills Canada National Competition was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from May 24-27. This enormous annual event is a national multi-trade and technology competition with 45 different competitive categories. Over 550 competitors participated, including local man Xander Powell, who graduated from St. John’s High School in Perth last year. Powell studied Marine Mechanics at Georgian College this year, and is currently working at Chris Raymond Marine in Portland.

Powell took first place for his skills in Outdoor Power and Recreation Equipment, one of nine competitions in the Transportation category.

Skills Canada was founded in 1989 to promote skilled trade and technology careers among Canadian youth. This annual competition draws thousands of students to view multiple trades and enlarge their understanding of what they involve.

Powell competed at the provincial level in Skills Ontario in early May, winning gold, at the Congress Centre in Toronto.

Powell’s mother, Danielle, was deeply impressed by the Skills Ontario competition and show. “For two days, 18,000 students tour through the centre. It’s a great try-a-career day; they have opportunities for trying out all sorts of different trades.”

When he was a student in high school, Powell himself wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. “I haven’t always been interested in mechanics, but I have been interested in just how things work, which eventually led me into mechanics,” he explained. “I could take things apart and see how they work and put them back together and fix things which I always thought was cool.”

A summer job further re- fined his interest from mechanics generally into Marine mechanics specifically.

“I saw that there was a need for more Marine mechanics in the industry, so I knew there would be many employment opportunities,” Powell said. This interest served him well in the challenging Nationals competition, where he worked for two days repairing an outboard boat motor, a motorcycle, snowmobile, four wheeler engine, and an electrical board.

Along with two other students in his class, Powell was selected to compete by his instructors at Georgian College, and their expenses were covered by Georgian as well. Skills Canada par- ticipants, a wide swath of young people from secondary school and post-secondary, can be sponsored by their school, employer, or union.

“We are so proud of him,” said mom Danielle. “We are all in behind him.”