Local student wins gold in Skills Ontario regional competition

By Ron Giofu

A local high school student has won gold in the Skills Ontario regional competition and is looking to continue his winning streak.

Kalen Deslippe, an 18-year-old Grade 12 student at North Star High School, has taken the skills learned in his machining class and transferred it into a gold medal at the Skills Ontario competition held earlier this month at St. Clair College.

Deslippe said it felt good to come out on top, adding he started to learn towards the end of the competition he had a shot at winning it.

“There was a lathe portion and a milling competition too,” said Deslippe.

Deslippe said he has been taking courses like machine shop for about four years and enjoys it. He added he has never competed before but wasn’t nervous going into the regional event.

“The actual competition was over three hours,” he said. “I did a couple of practice pieces here (at North Star) but it was pretty straightforward.”

There were eight people at the Skills Ontario regional competition, he added, though there were 14 that were supposed to be there.

Deslippe said he is confident heading into the provincials.

“It’s on a higher level,” said Deslippe. “It’s the same steps and the same process.”

Deslippe added he is still figuring out what his future plans will be but believes it will be something related to machining. He credits teacher Glen Holden for helping him learn the craft.

Holden said the Skills Ontario regional competition was against students from other schools in Windsor-Essex County. He said Deslippe’s firstplace performance puts him at the top of young machinists in the area.

“He’s considered the best Grade 12 machinist in Windsor-Essex County,” Holden said of Deslippe. “The win in that competition qualifies him for the provincials, which take place in Toronto May 1-3. This is kind of like the Olympics for machinists.”

Holden added when he taught at Herman in 2016, he had a student win at nationals and colleague Rodney Levesque had a student win nationals from General Amherst High School in 2018.

Holden added there is a history with schools in the Greater Essex County District School Board of students doing well, including those from the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship program (OYAP).

“I think Kaden has skills and talents to do well at provincials and hopefully do well at nationals,” concluded Holden.