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RDC apprenticeship students earn gold at SkillsCanada National Competition

Jun 22, 2018 | 6:00 PM

A pair of apprenticeship students from Red Deer College are basking in the glow of gold medals earned at the 2018 SkillsCanada National Competition held in Edmonton this month.

As a result, Justin Meldrum and Eric Koster are now in contention for a spot at WorldSkills 2019 which will take place in Kazan, Russia next year.

“We’re extremely proud of Justin and Eric, as well as all of our apprenticeship students who have dedicated time and effort to prepare for competitions at the provincial and national levels,” says Joel Gingrich, Dean of RDC’s School of Trades and Technologies in a press release. “These students have gained valuable skills and expertise in their fields and their success highlights their ability to achieve recognizably high standards, measured against others who are also the best in their regions and provinces.”

At the SkillsCanada National Competition, Meldrum and Koster were among 550 students and apprentices from across the country who were competing in 44 different skill areas.

Meldrum, a third-year RDC apprentice, won gold in Welding and also received the Best in Region award for having the highest spread in points between gold and silver for Team Alberta.

“When I was preparing for the competitions, I trained a few evenings after class each week, and after I finished school, I continued to practice all day on Fridays, thanks to a flexible work schedule,” he says. “It feels great to see all of the practice and preparation pay off.”

Koster, a fourth-year Electrician apprentice at RDC, earned gold in the Electrical Installations competition.

“I became interested in Skills during high school, as I had a teacher that believed in me and what I could do,” he explains. “What started as a chance to test my skills and knowledge became something that I really enjoyed, and winning gold at both provincials and nationals has been kind of a dream come true. I’ve been working towards the opportunity to go to Worlds for the last five years.”

During competitions, the students put their skills to the test by completing three projects over a two-day span with the projects then judged by industry experts.

Meldrum and Koster will now have their next qualifying competition for Worlds in Halifax next spring.

To help them prepare, they will each have access to training space at the College with help from their RDC coaches. It’s expected they will learn about techniques and projects they may have to face at WorldSkills.

“Whenever we have the opportunity to learn from and share knowledge with other institutions and industry professionals, we build relationships on a provincial, national, and global scale, and this has a positive impact on our students and programs,” adds Gingrich. “When our students perform at this level in the National Skills Competition, it advances the work we do with our apprenticeship students here in Red Deer and it benefits all of Red Deer College.”