Seven of the eight Abbotsford secondary students competing in the Skills BC contest on Wednesday at Tradex have advanced to the national competition.
The eighth student won a silver, just missing a spot in the Skills Canada competition running June 5-8 at BC Place in Vancouver.
More than 400 participants competed in 40 categories, including plumbing, hairdressing, the culinary arts, brick masonry, carpentry, fashion design, computer animation and more.
They qualified for the provincials by winning gold medals at regional competitions.
The Abbotsford students advancing to the nationals are:
* Elijah Baluyan and Karmyn Chretien (in photo at left) from Robert Bateman Secondary in 2D animation;
* Patty Chomseng and Conor Nolan from Abbotsford Virtual School in 3D animation;
* Davejot Sidhu from Robert Bateman Secondary in architectural drafting;
* Casey Lenning from Rick Hansen Secondary in electrical wiring; and
* Amie Peters from Abbotsford Senior Secondary in culinary arts.
Achieving a silver medal was David Lawton from Yale Secondary in automotive service technician.
For a complete list of medal winners, visit skillscanada.bc.ca.