Red Deer has earned recognition for everything from its trail system to its Olympic athletes. Now you can add 3-D computer animation to the list.
Students from Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School have won gold medals at the last four Skills Canada Alberta competitions in the 3-D computer animation category, an achievement that earned each a place in the Canadian Skills Compeitions as a provincial representative. The most recent to accomplish this feat were Ian Chariter and Jason Lindsay, who went on to win silver medals in Charlottetown, P.E.I., earlier this month.
This year, Team Alberta consisted of 57 high school and post-secondary students. They emerged from a field of 600 competitors from across the province who matched skills in such areas as construction, technology and services.
Among the seven Alberta students to win gold medals at this year’s national event was Luke Moore of Innisfail, who attended SAIT and was competiting in CNC (computer numerical controlled) machining.
In addition to Chariter and Lindsay, the 11 Albertans who brought home silver medals included Bert Van Haaren of Ponoka Composite High School. He was entered in cabinet-making.
Dallas Rathborne, a Red Deer resident who is attending SAIT, placed third in IT and network support. He was one of the 10 members of the Alberta team to claim a bronze medal.
Other Central Albertans who qualified for this year’s Canadian Skills Competition were Colton McClafin on Ponoka Composite High School, who was entered in website development; Brandon Graf of Notre Dame High School, who competed in precision machining; and Kirsten Edel of Hunting Hills High School, who took part in hairstyling.
The 2009 WorldSkills competition will be held Sept. 1 to 7 in Calgary. The Canadian team includes eight Albertans, among them Craig Spady of Red Deer.
Spady, who will compete in the electrical installations category, earned his spot on the team by winning at the 2008 Canadian Skills Competition.