Local high school student shows national audience what LSRCSS students are made of
After taking home a gold at the Skills Manitoba Competition last month, Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School student Jude Bennett has impressed again winning a bronze medal at the Skills Canada competition.
Bennett went out to Regina, Sask. and competed in the Automotive Technology Secondary category at the end of last month.
“It was all in a big convention center so that was kind of interesting to compete with everybody (around),” said Bennett.
He says that the national competition was very much like the provincial one where he was tested in a variety of different categories.
“There was still a suspension station, a brake station, an engine station, a transmission station, an electrical station and a drivability station, but it was kind of just more difficult. And, instead of 45 minutes, you had an hour and a half at each station. So, it was kind of just more in-depth,” he explained.
He said that the tests were definitely more difficult than the provincial competition.
“The electrical diagnosis was a little challenging for me, but I was still able to put my head to it and get it figured out. They threw some tricks in there that you wouldn’t see in real life,” said Bennett.
After completing the skills challenge Bennett explained that he wasn’t sure if he’d gotten a medal but he knew he wasn’t at the bottom.
Once he found out that he’d won he was glad.
“It was nice. Always would have been nice to do better, but it was still nice to have gotten something for all the work we did,” he said.
As for next steps, Bennett being a grade 12 student, will be graduating this year and, because of his participating in the automotive technology program at the high school, he’s got some great options open to him.
“Currently, I am a level two automotive apprentice working at X-Pert Auto. So, I think I’m just going to work on my apprenticeship. When something else pops up, then we’ll see. But for now, that’s the plan,” he said.
Bennett is very humble about his win and wants to share his belief that other students are able to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s possible for anybody to do what I did. You just have to take pride in what you do and do the best you can,” said Bennett.
His teacher Lucas Macintosh is proud that he was able to make it so far in the competition.
“I’m proud of Jude. He worked very hard for his whole career as a high school student. Three years he’s dedicated himself to vocational and academic programming and has shown huge effort, and his successes show not only is he just smart and skilled, but he has a large peer group that really appreciate all of his efforts. And I think that whichever path he chooses to go down, he’ll be a much appreciated and contributing member of society,” said Macintosh.
