Dawson Fisher is one of the best high school cabinetmakers in the country and he has a silver medal to prove it.
The Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) Grade 12 student travelled to Winnipeg May 31 - June 3 to compete in Skills Canada competition against students from all over the country in the woodworking-cabinet category.
Skills Canada is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to expose students to the trades as a potential career.
To qualify for the national competition Fisher first had to win at the Skills Canada regional and provincial level.
“It is this really amazing event. All the provinces bring its best high school trades people to take part in this two-day competition,” he said, adding close to 100 different trades are represented in total.
At the high school level there are 30 trades, ranging from computer animation, the culinary arts to welding. The Alberta team had 56 representatives.
Fisher said he has always been interested in woodworking so when, in Grade 10, his shop teacher Barry Wilkins told him he should consider pursuing it as a potential vocation and suggested entering Skills Canada, he jumped at the chance.
“One kid in a 1,000 that is what Dawson is. He definitely has a gift,” Wilkins said, adding he backs up his talent with hard work. “He might be the hardest working student I have ever had. He out works his classmates two to one.”
One of the reasons why Wilkins believes Fisher is so motivated is because of his father.
Twenty-five years ago, when Wilkins first started his teaching career, Dawson’s father was one of his students. Like Dawson he was a talented woodworker who also entered Skills Canada.
“So I think that is one of the reasons why he was so motivated at Skills [Canada]. He motivated himself all the way to the gold medal at provincials,” he said.
Wilkins added at the nationals, in his opinion, Fisher’s project was the better of the two finalists.
“It was definitely a tight contest, but I thought Dawson did the better job,” he said.
Going into the competition Fisher said he was both excited and nervous, but knew he had a chance to do well.
Before going to Winnipeg, Fisher had the opportunity to build one last cabinet, similar to the one he would have to make in the national competition.
“I was quite happy with the results,” Fisher said, adding he was also pleased with the cabinet he made in Winnipeg as well and one he was hoping to be able to show the rest of the school when he returned.
Unfortunately, somewhere in the shipping process the cabinet was damaged, so it had to wait until Fisher completed the repairs.
“Actually it wasn’t too bad, the door was completely off and there is was a big chunk taken out of the back and another couple of pieces had fallen off, but I was able to fix it,” he said, noting it will be nice to have it as a keepsake of the event.
As for Fisher’s future, after he graduates this summer he plans to pursue a career in forestry following a two-year course at NAIT.
