Staff Report
MT. VERNON — Eight Mt. Vernon Township High School Area Vocational Center students qualified to compete in the State SkillsUSA competition in Springfield in April.
There were a total of 10 competitions with the eight students qualifying in seven of the separate competitions. From the state competition, the eight students will have the opportunity to qualify for national level competition which will take place this summer.
SkillsUSA, formerly known as VICA — Vocational Industrial Clubs of America — is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives who work together to ensure America has a skilled work force and help students excel in vocational areas. It is a nonprofit organization that serves teachers and high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations including health occupations. The theme for SkillsUSA competitions this hear is Champions at Work, Connecting the Opportunities.
Those students who qualified for the state competition next month are senior Chiffa Brown in culinary arts; seniors Leah Sherman and Morgan Bozarth in first aid and CPR; senior David Williams in food and beverage service; junior Casey Wininger in nursing assistant; senior Sonny Russell in power equipment technology; senior Cody Mellot in residential wiring; and senior Dillon Payne in technical drafting (CAD).
The students will be competing April 15 through April 17 in Springfield at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, President Abraham Lincoln Hotel.
According to information from SkillsUSA, those who qualify at the state level may then compete in the championships, which is the showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation. The championships are a multi-million dollar event which had more than 5,400 contestants in 91 events in 2009 and involved nearly 1,500 judges and contest organizers from labor and management areas. The philosophy of the championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers’ needs, according to SkillsUSA.
