Brock Chiasson and his gold medal winning team from Yorkton Regional High School at the 2016 Skills Canada Competition.(From left to right: James Thiessen, Brock Chiasson, Sean Furber, and Grett Guenter)

It’s 11,318 km from Yorkton, Saskatchewan to Abu Dhabi.  But it’s a trip Brock Chiasson is eager to make!

Brock is a 17-year-old who will be entering his Grade 12 year in September at Yorkton Regional High School. 

In October 2017, Brock and a classmate are scheduled to compete with students from around the world in the World Skills Abu Dhabi 2017 competition.

In a competition that features a wide range of skills categories, Brock and his partner will be competing in the Mobile Robotics competition.

“I’m used to competing in these types of events as I have been involved in the myRobot Rumble since Grade 9,” said Brock, referring to the SaskTel sponsored event that takes place every year in Saskatoon.

Brock’s interest in robotics took him to the Skills Canada competition, where his team received a gold medal as the top ranked team in robotics.  The next step is the competition in Abu Dhabi.

“It feels unreal,” said Brock. “I really like the feeling of this accomplishment and I can't wait to see what the next year and a half have in store for me and my teammate. It's overwhelming but I'm up to the challenge.”

This summer, Brock has been on a summer work term with SaskTel, where he has worked with the Construction team as part of the SaskTel YOUTHnetwork Summer Hire Program.

“SaskTel is partnered with my school's electrical program,” said Brock. "Personally, I've enjoyed the physical part of the job such as digging to find troubles and splicing the pairs. I’m not sure what I will be doing yet when I’m done school, but SaskTel is definitely an option as somewhere I would like to be.”

The SaskTel YOUTHnetwork Summer Hire Program is an eight-week paid summer employment program for high school students attending our partner schools that enables the students to work in SaskTel departments, learn about careers, education, and gain valuable work experience. 

“It’s a great introduction to careers at SaskTel for students like Brock,” said Lyndsey Pankratz, Project Manager – Human Resources. “And all the positions are fully funded by the YOUTHnetwork.”

Best of luck to Brock in Abu Dhabi!

For more information about World Skills Abu Dhabi 2017, visit: https://worldskillsabudhabi2017.com/en/countries/