National competition Gold Medal winner North Battleford Comprehensive High School student Cam Taylor, centre. (submitted photo/Mike Humenny)

By Angela Brown

Celebrating success

N.B. Comprehensive HS student honoured with gold award in national competition

Jun 5, 2019 | 5:09 PM

Third time is the charm, as the saying goes.

That was the case for Cam Taylor who recently won gold in the 2019 Skills Canada National Competition. It was his third year at nationals aiming for the top medal.

The North Battleford Comprehensive High School (NBCHS) student received the top spot in the event in Halifax on May 30 for competing in the carpentry test for his category.

“It’s an extreme honour,” the Grade 12 student said. “It’s been kind of a goal of mine for a long time to see if I could make this happen. I tried to put as much work and practice into getting the best chance I could. Everything worked out in the end. It was close, but I ended up taking it home”.

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Taylor built a children’s playhouse in the competition after working on the project May 28 and 29.

The 18-year-old from Battleford who is graduating this year took construction courses at school and said he always enjoyed the hobby.

“I love building stuff and seeing it go from a stack of lumber to something you created,” he said. “You take pride that you built it, and you can express your creativity.”

Taylor added he appreciates everyone who supported him along the way, as well as Home Hardware North Battleford for giving him some materials he was able to use for practicing the skill, leading up to the competition.

“It really made a huge difference,” he said.

Eleven other youth from other provinces and territories also competed with Taylor in the competition for his category.

Cam Taylor shown making the children’s playhouse he created for the competition. (Submitted photo/Mike Humenny)

NBCHS teacher Mike Humenny, Taylor’s coach at the event, commended the youth for his professionalism.

“Overall, I think the whole school was really happy and proud of the work that Cam had done,” Humenny said, adding it was a three-year process in the making for Taylor to finally claim the gold in nationals.

“He put a lot of time and energy into it,” Humenny said.

The teacher added Taylor also worked a lot on carpentry at home as well to prepare for the big event.

“We weren’t really surprised he did that well,” Humenny said. “We were happy that he did. It was pretty cool the way it all turned out.”

It’s Taylor’s attention to detail that really stands out for Humenny.

“(Taylor) doesn’t rush anything,” Humenny said. “He formulates a plan, and goes ahead with that. His skills with a variety of tools are exceptional. He puts a lot of pride into his work as well. Those are some of the things that helped him to succeed.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow