CANADA'S GORDON GRAYDON

TEAM EARNS 1^ST PLACE AWARD!

2005 PHOENIX CHALLENGE FLEXO COMPETITION

Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School’s student team, Sean Coulson and Payam Rajabi, were awarded the top honors in the 8^th Annual International Phoenix Challenge Flexo Skills Competition at the Harper National Flexographic Center at CPCC, Charlotte, NC.

The 1^st Place Award was based on combining scores achieved on the written Certification Exam, Math Exam, Pre-Press, Press Operation and Plate Making. And according to the judges, the competition was tougher than ever with student teams scoring higher than at any other previous annual event. Instructor Peter Belanger said, “We had two teams in the competition this year and are very proud of both. We are especially honored and pleased with the persistence and work ethics of Sean and Payam, and excited that they were each given a $1,000 Phoenix Challenge Foundation Scholarship.

The team and the school were also presented the “2005 Harper Flexo High School of the Year” Trophy Cup, for display at their school in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.   

Chairman Bettylyn Krafft said that, “It is quite obvious that the instructors and student teams take this competition seriously. We are very pleased with the quality of students now participating and with their high level of interest and enthusiasm.” She added, “The flexographic industry commends all the students and teachers for their dedication to preparation and to performing extraordinarily well during this important annual flexographic skills testing event. The results of the 2005 Phoenix Challenge Competition are evidence that we are indeed accomplishing our mission of building a stronger flexographic workforce for tomorrow.”