While the fervor around WorldSkills Calgary has died down, its impact on junior high and high school students  continues to live on.

Bow Valley High, Cochrane High and St. Timothy High schools all sent students to take part in the event, which is the second largest international competition besides the Olympics.

For Cochrane High Grade 10 students, it was an eye opening experience about how close a career in trades can be.

Cochrane High’s Grades 9 and 10 attended WorldSkills with the school, while the rest of high schoolers did not as they were able to drive themselves to the event.

“It taught me that it’s a lot closer, I don’t have to go to some place in the States to do it,” said student Kyle Edgecombe.

Student Star Acoby said she wasn’t sure what WorldSkills was all about until she got off the bus.

“I didn’t even know what a trade was, I thought they were just really old kinda things,” she said, adding she then saw how many skills were involved in trades.

“They have to be really artistic and creative.”

Like Acoby, the other students said the complexities of the trades had escaped them until they actually saw competitors in action.

“You think they’re easy but when you actually get into it, it’s pretty complex,” said Katie Koob.

“You can’t just decide on the spot ‘I’m going to be a tradesman.’ You actually have to get an education in it,” added Edgecombe.

Emma Greendale said she was surprised “some of the trades you thought were so straight forward,” turned out to  be very complicated.

St. Timothy took the entire student body from Grade 7 to 12, and Grade 12 students Brittany Balawyder and Braydon Morisseau couldn’t have been happier.

Both have a keen interest in the trades, and Morisseau has his sights on WorldSkills 2011 in London.

Balawyder said she enjoyed seeing competitors projects progress over the course of the day.

“You get to see things you normally wouldn’t think a trades person would do and you got to see what it’s all about,” she said.

“It’s a completely different set of skills then a lot of other jobs.”

She also said that even though the Grade 7 are too young to make career choices, the WorldSkills experience can’t hurt.

“You don’t have to make up your mind when you’re that young but you can think about it.”

Morisseau already knew quite a bit about being a pastry chef before going to WorldSkills, but said seeing others in action was a good experience.

“I’m actually planning on entering the provincial skills in February,” he said, adding he can see a career in the field in his future.

“For a long time I’ve liked art, but hadn’t had anything else to apply it too.  I like working with my hands.”

For those less sure of their career paths, he thought WorldSkills was a good tool to help students make decisions.

“It’s a good career option if you don’t know what your going to do.”

At Bow Valley, Grades 10 and 11 attended and Grade 11 students Atazia Hadjirouseu, Caitlin Harbottle and Sarah Tkachuk said it was an inspiring experience.
“It was inspiring to see females there,” said Hadjirouseu.

“Even if it’s something I wouldn’t particularly want to do it was so cool to see other females doing it.”

The girls said they are starting to feel pressure to decide on a career, but going to WorldSkills helped ease their minds.

“You can always try, you can always go to trades school,” said Tkachuk, adding that going to WorldSkills showed them how the stereotypical view of trades is wrong.

“It defies the stereotypes put on it.”

The hands on displays also appealed to the students.

“You can’t like something unless you actually try it yourself,” said Harbottle.

Hadjirouseu said a great part of WorldSkills was realizing “you don’t have to necessarily go through years of university to have a career that actually pays off.”

From an administration stand point, WorldSkills was a roaring success.

Cochrane High assistant principal Susan Pepper said events like WorldSkills elevate the trades to a more visible, viable level for students.

“Everybody wants a job that they love and can express their creativity through and not all students will find that at university.”

St. Timothys shop teacher Ivan Mazuryk said the way people usually consider trades is far from correct.

“I think that in Canada we do have a problem with how the trades are thought of, not by everyone but sometimes,” he said.

“I think they can see the trades in a different light, I guess, and a legitimate career option.”

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