Submitted photo
Standing (L to R) Advisor Mr. Jay Miller, Robert Stacey, Abigail Ridout, Jeremy Cooper, Advisor Mr. Rick Stringer. Second Row: Michael Carver, Dylan Meyers, Austin Blevins. Third Row: Corey Canter, Bill Yinger, Justin Huffman. Fourth Row: Dakota Yates, Josh Barnett and Aaron Robinson. Not pictured: Brady Sexton.
Ryan Scott Ottney
PDT Staff Writer
Competing against hundreds of students from as far away as Columbus, 13 students from the Scioto County Career Technical Center (SciotoTech) were awarded medals during the 2013 SkillsUSA Ohio South Central Regional Championships in Lucasville on March 2.
“It’s a regional contest, which means we have people from Buckeye Hills, the Gallipolis area, and it goes all the way up to Columbus, and then we (SCCTC) may be the furthest west, but this includes that entire block of the state, the southeast region,” Stan Jennings, Superintendent at SCCTC said. “What they do is, they have the kids who are proficient in their areas compete. There’s some other things - team leadership things they also do.”
According to its website (skillsusa.org), SkillsUSA is a national non-profit partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It was formerly known as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America. Among the skills being contested during the competition were automotive refinishing, basic health care, carpentry, criminal justice, nurse assisting, welding and more.
Two SciotoTech students, John Williams and Michael Carver, were elected south central Ohio SkillsUSA officers during a conference in Columbus last fall. The students participated in a week-long training program in Washington D.C. to prepare them as presenters for the regional competition held earlier this month on the SciotoTech campus. More than 600 students from 20 different school districts participated.
This is the first year SciotoTech has hosted the competitions, and the awards ceremony followed at Valley High School with SciotoTech SkillsUSA officers Williams and Carver presenting the opening and closing ceremonies.
“Everything we had was very positive, all the way down to the contests themselves. We didn’t have a lot of people complaining. Everything seemed to be very positive with the judging and everything like that,” Jennings said. “The whole concept was, not only did the schools all come together to make that happen, but the community did as well and we can’t thank the community enough for their participation.”
SciotoTech advisers were Lynda Spittle, Rick Stringer, Ralph Madden and Jay Miller. Medal winners from the Scioto County Career Technical Center were Robert Stacey, Carpentry, First Place (Gold); Crime Scene Investigation Team (Abigail Ridout, Josh Barnett, and Dylan Meyers) First Place (Gold); Dakota Yates, Electricity, Second Place (Silver); Jeremy Cooper, Industrial Motor Control, Second Place (Silver); Austin Blevins, Job Interview, Second Place (Silver); Teamworks (Brady Sexton, Justin Huffman, Aaron Robinson, and Michael Carver) First Place (Gold); Corey Canter. Technical Drafting, First Place (Gold); and Bill Yinger, Welding, Third Place (Bronze).
“I think that far exceeded our expectation on how well our students would do in these particular contests. To have those kind of numbers is totally astounding to us,” Jennings said. “This was a very positive outcome for our students and a very positive outcome for our community. Myself and the school district couldn’t be happier.”
He said the competition will return to SciotoTech next year.
For more information about SkillsUSA visit them online at www.skillsusa.org or Ohio SkillsUSA at www.ohioskillsusa.org, and the Scioto County Career Technical Center online at www.sciototech.org.
Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 287, or rottney@civitasmedia.com.
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