Students compete in regional SkillsUSA
Pictured from left are five of the eight advancing to the state round: Blake Meixel, Lily Waltz, Jewelana Jasper, Hailey Copson and Trevor Estes. Not pictured: Mia McNaul, Ashlyn Robinson and Ahmir Ransom
Forty-three Williamsport Area High School (WAHS) students recently competed in the regional SkillsUSA competition at Pennsylvania College of Technology, and, of them, 26 earned top three placements and eight move on to compete in the state round.
Eight earned first-place finishes in the following categories: Mia McNaul and Ashlyn Robinson in Homeland Security; Lily Waltz in Commercial Art; Jewelana Jasper in Job Skills Demo A; Hailey Copson in Commercial Banking; Blake Meixel in Precision Machining; Trevor Estes in Engineering and Robotics; and Ahmir Ransom in Computer Information Technology (CIT). These students now move on to the state competition, which will be held April 2-4 in Hershey, PA.
Two earned second-placed finishes: Jaydan Smith in T-Shirt Design and Naudya Ricci in Advertising Art. Two teams of students also earned second-places finishes: Gabe Pershall, Sarah Stugart and Elijah Vogelson in Welding Fabrication.
Three earned third-place wins in the following categories: Owen Trump in Firefighting, Madison Hamm in First Aid/CPR and Isabelle Campbell in Medical Math. Three student teams earned a third-place win in the following categories: Khamani Dyson, Hudson Fink, Adalynn Diefenderfer and Aubrey Martin in the Health Knowledge Bowl; Landon Mitcheltree and Mike Weaver in Mechatronics; and Noah MacGill, Sawyer Jacobs,Domenico Paternostro, Taitum Zarzyczyny in Teamworks.
According to the organization’s website, “SkillsUSA is a national student organization that develops employability, participatory and leadership skills to complement the occupational skills developed by students in technical education classrooms or work-based learning sites. SkillsUSA is an integral part of approved technical education occupation programs.”
WAHS has 15 workforce development courses made available to students through its Career and Technical Education program.