BILD competition puts students carpentry skills to the test

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 13, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

BILD Lethbridge Region has partnered with CAREERS The Next Generation and the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute for the third annual Who BILDs it Best competition.
The competition will see high school students with various carpentry skills build a project in a live action event during the Southern Alberta Home, Garden and Leisure Show Thursday and Friday.
Bridget Mearns, executive officer of BILD Lethbridge Region, says those in attendance can expect to see 20 talented high school competitors from nine schools across southern Alberta come together to showcase their abilities.
“We’ll have five teams of two students competing each day (today and Friday), they will start at 1:30 and will have 75 minutes to build a planter,” says Mearns.
She says the lumber will be prepared for them, and they will be provided with a saw a miter box and instructions.
“They have seen the planter box, they did get a little bit of a heads up on what it is, but they have not seen the instructions,” says Mearns.
She adds that there will be community members who work in the industry judging the competition.
“They will be judged on completion, how well it was completed, and how they worked together as a team,” says Mearns.
Those three aspects are being judged because they are important when people go into trades.
“And these are students who already have an aptitude, or the idea that they want to follow a career in trades,” says Mearns.
A student who competed last year later went on to make some career decisions based on her experience in the competition.
“She thought she wanted to go into carpentry, she did the Who BILDs it Best competition last year and realized she did not want to be in carpentry, which is good that she realized that,” says Mearns. “She moved on but she’s still in the trades, just in a different path.”
The competition is an opportunity to provide the students with an extra nudge towards a career in trades in a fun way that could also earn them a reward.
“The winners of each day will receive a $150 gift certificate to Lealta Building Supplies, and every participant will receive a few trinkets from KB Heating, Plumbing and Air Conditioning, and CAREERS The Next Generation and Rona+,” says Mearns.
She adds that the materials and tools are provided by Rona+, Logic Lumber and Lethbridge Polytechnic.
“The competition will take place at the main stage and there will be an area to sit and watch as they compete. We have an MC from Lethbridge Polytechnic Stephanie Savage and she will talk to the competitors along the way,” says Mearns.
Mearns says that something that is different about the competition this year is that all the participants are students at the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute.
“It doesn’t matter what school you come from, if you are in the dual credit program you go to the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute and that’s where you learn hands on trade experience,” says Mearns.

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