SAIT skills competition helps high school students get a leg up in a career in the trades

Welding gets its closeup at SAIT skills competition SAIT hosts skills competition Saturday

The sparks flew and the hammering echoed through the halls of SAIT Saturday as junior and senior high school students participated in a skills competition focusing on welding, cabinetmaking and carpentry.

The cabinetmakers were building shelves, while the carpentry competitors transformed 2x4s into a garden bench.

The junior welding competitors were applying fillet welds using the Gas Metal Arc and the Shielded Metal Arc processes while the seniors built a staircase incorporating both fillet and open groove welds using the same processes.

“It gets the kids into welding which is really what it’s all about,” says Doug Sontag, a welding instructor at SAIT. “We need more people in welding so this is good for that.”

“I think it is a great example of what it’ll be like to work in the industry,” says Grade 12 student Lily Lang. “It’s really the biggest chance you get to have to show off your skills and to really see how much you’ve learn.”

“A lot of companies look for skills competitors because why not hire the best,” says Sontag

The top three will be heading to Edmonton to compete in the provincial skills competition.