May 22, 2012                                       

DSBN Students Medal Up in City of Champions

For Blake Hannahson and Stephanie Stanov, pressure is an afterthought. Their ability to focus and shut out distractions helped propel the two Sir Winston Churchill students to the top of the podium at the Skills Canada National Competition. Working together as a team, Blake and Stephanie won gold in the TV/Video production challenge. The competitions were held on May 14-15 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Students in the TV/Video Production challenge were given a day and a half to produce a 2-4 minute video highlighting one of the other challenges taking place in Edmonton. Blake and Stephanie were assigned the Electrical Installation challenge. Judges evaluated the participants on everything from technical proficiency to their ability to tell a compelling story.

“Blake and Stephanie did an excellent job in all aspects of the competition. They developed an excellent plan and showed great technical expertise in shooting and editing the video. The final product was certainly medal worthy and they should be very proud of all they have accomplished,” says Lisa Pomeroy, Technology Department Head at Sir Winston Churchill. Click here to watch Blake and Stephanie's winning entry.

Although Blake and Stephanie were named national champions, they were not the only DSBN medalists at the event. Stamford Collegiate’s Niki Harris earned a bronze medal for her performance in the Hairstyling competition. “This was an exceptionally colourful and creative competition and Niki’s skills really stood out in this event,” said Mike Doyle, DSBN Skills Development Coordinator. This was Niki’s second trip to the nationals as she competed as part of Team DSBN at the 2011 Skills Competitions in Quebec City.

The DSBN also had two other outstanding representatives at the Alberta competitions. Last year’s national gold medal winner Daniel Dressel again took part in the Welding competition and Grimsby Secondary’s Cameron Principi took part in the Mechanical CADD challenge.

“We’re extremely proud of the students who earned the right to showcase their skills at this high level. They all brought a very poised and professional approach to their individual competitions and were great ambassadors for the high-quality technology programs offered throughout the DSBN,” adds Doyle.