Student Excellence
Raising the Bar for Achievement
In the spring of 2007 the President’s Office invited a select group of business students who had represented Okanagan College in educational competitions to join President Hamilton for dinner in recognition of their achievements. In its inaugural year the dinner included approximately 22 students. The tradition of honouring students who make the commitment to represent the College has continued, growing dramatically over a few short years. At the 2010 President’s Competition Excellence dinner nearly 100 students from business, trades, technology and arts were invited to attend. Among them were champion Civil Engineering Technology students who won gold at the Wood WORKS! BC/Canadian Wood Council’s annual Wood Design Competition at UBC in Vancouver. The team of Tyler Weise, Patrick D’amour, Scott Juniper, Corey Konkin and Chris Pieper beat nine other teams including four teams from UBC Vancouver, two teams from BCIT, one from Camosun College, and one from North Island College.
Also invited to the dinner were the 2010 Skills BC winners. At the provincial level Okanagan College won a gold medal in carpentry, three silver medals in the fields of Automotive Service, Welding and IT PC Network Support, and three bronze medals in Automotive Service, Automotive Collision Repair and IT PC Network Support. Despite an hour-long power outage that left drills, saws and PCs shut down, Okanagan College competitors were able to demonstrate their practical knowledge and skills in their chosen fields. Okanagan College’s Devon Hamilton dominated the carpentry challenge, winning a gold medal and qualifying for the national competition. When he’s not at Okanagan College completing his training, Devon apprentices at Gux Construction where he is mentored by Okanagan College alumnus Jace Albrecht, a Red Seal carpenter who won the very same competition in 2008.
2010 President’s Competition Excellence Dinner
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