The great five of technique | eDruva

The young people of the Vidzeme Technical School of Technology and Design (VTDT) returned from the national skills competition for young professionals “SkillsLatvia 2023” with four medals – three gold, one bronze and one fourth place.

The director of the technical school, Artūrs Snegovićs, does not hide his surprise at such great results: “In silence, there are always hopes, but we really did not expect such good results. This is the highest achievement in the history of the United Technical School.”

In the competition, Reinis Abramovs won the gold medal in the nomination “Heavy vehicle technologies” (teacher Raimonds Rusmanis); Kalvis Kalcenavs in the nomination “Electrical installations” (teacher Artis SpruĽevics) and Edgars Kristians Prokofievs in the nomination “Furniture making” (teacher Andrejs Shimanajevs).

Sintija Bukša (teacher Diāna Nīmane) won the bronze medal in the nomination “Costume design”. In this nomination, the technical school was represented for the first time, and the debut turned out to be successful. Immediately behind the podium was Artūrs Belikovs in the nomination “Dry construction” (teacher Smuidris Sausais).

The director also reminds that these are not the only successes this school year. In autumn, young people Marta Lipska and Dāniels Denisov won the competition of young professionals “Augkopība”.

“This academic year has been very successful for us,” says A. Snegovičs. “A big thank you goes to the teachers who worked on preparing the students. The contribution of young people is also important, they have shown that they want more than just learning the school program. For the school, such success is a matter of prestige. If young people think about where to study after finishing elementary school, they or their parents see that students are prepared here at a high level, there are masters here who can teach the best skills.”

The teacher Artis Spruģevits says that Kalvis Kalcenavs won the gold with the second attempt, because last year he took 4th place in such a competition: “Kalvis is persistent, he concentrates well, this is very important in the competition. Kalvi’s skill is high, he was ready to win, you could see it in every action.”

The teacher does not hide that it is nice if among the students there is someone who wants more, who can be given additional knowledge, who knows how to listen, accept, summarize in order to put it into practice.

Serious preparation took place before the competition. Even though it is time for Kalvi’s final internship, the young man went to school every day and prepared. The teacher says that the task of the competition is known, however, the organizer can introduce changes in it up to 30 percent: “That’s why you have to be ready. As they say, “that garment” should be well known in order to make the right decision. Kalvis is a thief, there is real joy in him. A teacher is satisfied when a student succeeds. This means that the work was not in vain.”

Even Edgars Prokofievs, although only a 2nd-year student, already has competition experience, he won the “Chair” competition last year. Teacher Andrejs Šimanaevs does not hide that it is nice when a student wins, and says that the task of the competition was not easy. In 16 hours, a bar cabinet with oak solid wood legs, veneered doors, and a drawer must be made: “It was really not an easy task, we talked with other teachers about whether we could do it so quickly ourselves. The drawing, the task had been sent, together with Edgar we carefully prepared, discussing the order of the work. We planned what to do on the first day, while we still have the strength, to leave for later. We discussed what to do if there are changes in the drawing. We worked out options for what to do if something fails, but Edgar’s persistence must be praised, he worked without any anxiety, it seemed that nothing could affect him.”

Edgars himself states that the biggest challenge was time planning, because in order to complete the task on time, the order of work must be followed. The young man does not hide that he was pleasantly surprised, concluding that so much can be done under stressful conditions.

The technical school has high hopes for Edgar, he is only a 2nd-year student, but he was able to beat 4th-year students from similar educational institutions. Perhaps we will see one of the three gold medal winners in the European or World skills competitions. Let us remind you that last year, a graduate of the technical school, Rinald Vanter, won a silver medal in the “WorldSkills 2022” skills competition in the “Heavy vehicle technologies” nomination.

In the “SkillsLatvia 2023” competition, 23 educational institutions out of 30 vocational education institutions in Latvia won medals. Liepāja State Technical College and Jelgava Technical College won the most – six medals, four educational institutions each won four awards, including Vidzeme Technical College of Technology and Design.