MORINVILLE, Alta — Morinville Community High School is now home to Canada’s most "Skilled" high-school cabinet maker.
MCHS Grade 12 student Kirsten Whitfield won gold May 28 in the secondary cabinet-making event at the 2022 Skills Canada national competition.
Held May 25 to 28 in Vancouver (with secondary students participating virtually from their home schools), the competition featured about 500 students from across Canada who competed in 45 trades-related areas under tight time limits. Winners received medals and banners, with some post-secondary winners also earning spots on Team Canada.
It’s the first time that MCHS has ever had a national Skills champion, said MCHS construction teacher Kyle Coxen.
“I definitely knew she was capable of this,” he said.
Whitfield said she was shocked and super excited when she saw her name come up during the awards ceremony May 28.
“It was hard to believe. I am proud of my work, but it’s still hard to believe I won nationals.”
Competing May 26 and 27, Whitfield had just 12 hours to construct a large wooden toolbox with a sliding drawer and removable lid — a tough task even for someone like Coxen, who has some 20 years of furniture-making experience.
“The skills involved in building this project, they’re not meant to be done quickly,” Coxen said, adding that Whitfield would not have had time to fix any mistakes.
“She couldn’t second guess herself on any of these operations.”
Whitfield said she built two practice toolboxes prior to the competition. Using chisels, hand saws, and a table router, she dove-tailed the drawer, rabbeted the shelf, chamfered the handle, and still had about an hour extra at the end to sand everything to perfection. After that, she took numerous photos of her project for the judges to evaluate.
Whitfield said she has been getting a lot of congratulatory messages from her peers and her family for her win.
“My mom wants me to make her kitchen cabinets one day,” she said, and her dad is super excited for her.
Coxen later engraved a message into Whitfield’s toolbox to commemorate her win.
“This is a great resumé-booster for her,” he said of the gold medal, one which will let her get whichever job she wants in cabinet-making.
Coxen said he hopes Whitfield’s success will encourage more students to get into construction and compete in Skills.
Whitfield said she started work as a cabinet maker for Gem Cabinets in Edmonton on Monday, and hopes to complete her apprenticeship there.
She later plans to get a degree at a place such as the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and might compete again at Skills as a post-secondary student.
As for her prize-winning toolbox, she said she might paint a finish on it and show it off to her family.
“I love just the trades in general, because you learn something new every day,” Whitfield said.
“It’s a challenge and you’re not stuck doing something over and over again.”
Visit www.skillscompetencescanada.com for full competition results.
