Okanagan College Media Release

Four Okanagan College trades students posted medal-winning results at the 13th Annual Provincial B.C. Skills Competition, which was held at the Tradex in Abbotsford, BC. on April 18, 2007.

The College has a strong history of top performances at the competition, which tests students’ abilities to draw on their education, knowledge of their trade and work experience to complete a specific task on a tight timeline. The students who participated in this year’s competition did not stray from tradition.

The top performance in the carpentry competition was put forth by the College’s Jace Albrecht. Now finished his third year of a carpentry apprenticeship at the College, Albrecht won first place in the competition, in which competitors were charged with building a Japanese wishing well from a specific plan in under six hours.

In the Automotive Service Technician competition Chris Aitken won silver and Michael Russell was a close third winning the bronze. The third category featuring Okanagan College students was Automotive Collision Repair. Tyler Seltzer won bronze while Brandon Bernstein and John Kroeger placed somewhere outside of the top three. 

“I am always proud when our students do well in this competition because it confirms for them what I already know to be true – they have been trained extremely well and are prepared to handle practical challenges in their trade and careers,” says John Haller, Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship.

Carpentry instructor Don Campbell watched Albrecht’s carpentry competition and was pleased to see him win first place as the only student to finish the project by the deadline.

“I was well prepared for this competition,” says Albrecht. “My program and knowledge of math served me well. Finishing the job on time was challenging but even more challenging was working in front of the dozens of people who came out to watch.”

Albrecht will move on to the National competition, which takes place in Saskatoon June 6-9, 2007. The winners of that competition are eligible to compete in the world championships held in Japan later this year.

“I would like to thank my instructor Don Campbell for making the trip to support me,” says Albrecht. “Having my wife there to watch me was great and of course I have to thank my dad who has been my biggest teacher.”

My students worked extremely hard to prepare for this contest,” says Jamie Bloomfield, Automotive Service Technician instructor for the College. “They deserve all of the respect they earned at the competition and I know they are well equipped to move forward in their careers.”