Students from St. Paul and Mallaig put their skills and knowledge to the test at the annual Skills Canada Alberta North East Regional competition, held at Portage College in Lac La Biche on March 24.
A number of those students walked away with gold and silver medals, including Grade 12 Regional High School student Annika Malo. She received a gold medal in Baking for the second year in a row. Malo has also been invited to attend the provincial Skills Canada Alberta competition in May, and will be furthering her education at SAIT this fall after being accepted into the Baking and Pastry Arts program.
“I’ve always enjoyed baking with my mom,” says Malo, adding, she become even more interested in baking when she entered the high school foods program. Competitors in the baking category received their recipes ahead of time, which allowed Malo to practice her skills.
In order to get her gold medal, Malo had to make a Challah bread with six buns, and also decorate a red velvet cake. The practice clearly paid off, as Malo walked away again with a gold medal.
Grade 11 Regional High student Alysha Hippisley came in second in the same competition as Malo. Last year she walked away with a bronze medal, so this year was even sweeter.
“It wasn’t as stressful,” says Hippisley, adding, she just went and competed as best as she could. Hippisley’s interest in baking also started at home, as she grew up baking with her grandmother.
She says the Skills Canada competition is “a very good competition to go to,” and if given the chance, she will be heading back next year.
In the Culinary Arts category, Mallaig student Amanda Mathiot also came home with a gold medal. She described the competition as a great learning experience that “pushed me to challenge myself and see what I could really do under pressure.”
This was Mathiot’s first time competing at the Skills Canada Alberta event.
“The thing I enjoyed most about the day was cooking, but also being able to meet new people who had things in common with me,” she says.
Julie Dubeau only began teacher Culinary Arts at Mallaig School last year, and this year found two eager students to take part in the competition. The students spent a lot of time fine tuning their skills and recipes, said Dubeau.
“I have been constantly amazed by their mature work ethic and their persistence in perfecting their products.”
Local results from the March 24 competition include:
Baking: Annika Malo, first; Alysha Hippisley, second; Jenna Gamblin (Mallaig), fourth
Culinary Arts: Amanda Mathiot, first; Liz Theroux (Regional High), fourth
Hairstyling (Junior): Delayne Karbashewski (Regional), first; Megan Gogowich (Regiona), second; Taylor Blamer (Regional), fourth
Hairstyling (Intermediate): Michaela Ketsa (Regional), second
Welding: Jordan Suvak (Regional), first; Levi Labant (Regional), second; Cory Suvak (Regional), third
