awards 
After being selected to represent Victoria, Elisha Carter, a graphic prepress apprentice who studied at RMIT’s International Centre of Graphic Technology, has won the Gold Medal at the 2006 National WorldSkills Finals. The WorldSkills competition, held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, is the Olympics event for vocationally trained graduates from around Australia.

It is an intensely competitive and draining event where each state representative competes in their chosen vocation, over three full days.

It is the competition that sets a national standard and the benchmark for skills required in the graphic prepress sector, by having the competitors undertake ‘real work’ in a competitive production environment.

Elisha is to be congratulated for representing RMIT and Victoria with distinction and for demonstrating excellence in her technical ability. The Warrnambool Standard employs Elisha, where she is one of two graphic artists working in the commercial sector.

Her dedication and enthusiasm for the job is acknowledged by all of her peers, teachers and by everyone who meets her. Elisha’s dedication and commitment to the task was recognised by becoming the 2006 WorldSkills Victorian Country Printing and Graphic Arts Apprentice of the Year.

Only a fortnight ago, Elisha had a very successful evening at the RMIT International Centre of Graphic Technology’s Industry Training Awards, where she won the National Print Awards Grant, the Eastern Studios Prepress Award, the John H Lodge Memorial Award the Certificate of Merit Level Three.

She was also nominated for the Herb Thomas Memorial Award.

On hearing of Elisha’s success, the ICGT director, Robert Black, says, “We are very excited and pleased that Elisha has done so well in this event. We know that she has worked hard and it is a credit to her, her employer and the staff at the ICGT. All are to be congratulated we are very proud that she has again proved that the ICGT program is the best in Australia.”

Black says that as well as endorsing the obvious support of the Warrnambool Standard the ICGT acknowledges the support and the invaluable contributions made by the WorldSkills officials, sponsors and supporters, and the ICGT prepress staff. “Our thanks and congratulations deservedly go to all concerned,” says Black.

The National World Skills competition is a three-day event where, in this instance, graphic prepress competences and skills are thoroughly tested in a production and competitive environment. The students are given ’live briefs’ and are required to produce designs, layouts, proofs and printed products to predetermined standards under quite stringent time-lines.