Torin Langen ( grade ten) was looking for an actor for a short film that he was directing. Zach Ramelan wasn’t an actor, and he was new to Kitchener Collegiate Institute but he loved making films, so when he heard about Langen’s film he decided to go see what it was about.
Born out of that chance encounter was a friendship and eventual partnership. One year later, that teamwork helped the two Grade 11 students earn silver in TV and Video production at the Skills Canada competition, which took place from June 1-4 in Quebec City.
The competition was started in 1994 and pits 500 young people against one another in an Olympic style competition in 40 skilled trade-related events. Competitors must first win a local competition, then a regional competition, then a provincial competition, before finally ending up at the nationals. Last year Langen and Ramelan entered the competition after their communication technology teacher, Anestis Papoutsis, recommended they enter. “I thought that they would make great candidates because of their teamwork, and that it would be a great way for them to see what the competition was all about,” says Papoutsis.
Despite being younger than most of the competitors they were facing, Langen and Ramelan won gold at the local and regional levels, before finishing fifth in Ontario. This year the pair followed the same route, but won gold ( first place) in Ontario and progressed to the national championships. As proud as they were for winning the Ontario competition, the pair says that were “blown away” by the national competition.
“It was intense,” says Ramelan. “It was like we were in the Olympics".
Along with the glitz and glamour came additional pressure, however. “Once we saw how big this event was, it became serious and much more stressful,” says Langen. For the competition, Langen and Ramelan had to create a three to five minute video about the importance of investing in skilled trades in Canada. They had two days to shoot and edit the video. Ramelan would shoot the video while Langen would write the script and edit, with the two coming together frequently to brainstorm and help each other out. Altogether, they worked on the video for 14 hours.
Once completed, the video was judged by a panel of experts and then had a public screening, something that both said they didn’t want to attend. “Honestly, I though it was the worst thing either of us had ever done,” says Langen. “I didn’t want to go, I legitimately hated it.” The judges saw it differently. The pair finished second from all the teams across the country.
The pair has their sights set on the 2012 Skills Canada competition in Edmonton. “We’ll be there,” says Ramelan. “For the gold.”
Atta boy, Zach (my grandson) and congratulations to you both. Well done.
The Winning Video
