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Teen amped for gold at skills nationals
Jayden Wood is wired in to bring home a gold medal at this week’s Skills Canada National Competition in Quebec City.
The Grade 12 standout from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School (LCHS) will put his electrical installation skills to the test in Quebec from May 30 to 31.
“I’m pretty excited for it,” said Wood last Thursday during his final preparations in the school lab.
“I’m just putting up panels and bending conduit and running wire right now.”
Wood was named to Team Alberta after winning gold at this year’s provincial and regional skill competitions with his sights on the nationals.
He planned to fly to Quebec for the competition on Monday with his mom or dad.
“That would be awesome if I could bring back gold,” he said, giving kudos to his teacher Darren MacCarthy for helping him to get ready.
“I have the plan here and I’m just kind of practising. The plan can change up to 20 per cent they said.”
MacCarthy says in Quebec, Wood will be tasked with a series of operations that he would use in the trade.
“So it’s to simulate residential wiring and an introduction to commercial wiring that he will have two days to complete,” he said.
“He has to install a panel, bend conduit and run different wires and have it all work.”
That should be easy peasy for Wood expects MacCarthy who knows the teen just has the ability.
“He works well with his hands and he picks up the concept and has an understanding of how things should look and work,” said MacCarthy.
Wood is also going into nationals with back-to-back years of experience in electrical installations competitions at the provincials.
“He did well and then he took that experience and used it to his advantage and won this year,” said MacCarthy.
Woods says he might pursue the trades as a career depending on how well he does in Quebec, but all options are open when he graduates.
“After this, I am done high school, then I might do post-secondary,” he added.
Wood plans to spend the summer working with his dad installing garage doors.
Another student at LCHS, Princess Dabu won gold at the provincials in IT Office Level 1, but there’s no national event for that.
