by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College is celebrating one of its most successful trips to the SkillsUSA state competition, with more gold medalists than in recent memory.
“This year we had 56 students who competed at the state competition. Of those contestants, 68 percent received a medal,” said Jake Carmack, KCKCC’s SkillsUSA adviser, of this year’s medalists. “KCKCC is a force to be contended with.”
SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization in the United States geared toward those enrolled in programs for skilled, technical and service occupations. The organization serves more than 300,000 students and instructors each year at the high school and post-secondary level. It also gives industry leaders an opportunity to mentor and recruit students into positions that are high in demand.
Students, who wish to compete in SkillsUSA, can do so at the local, state and national level. Categories range from culinary, building maintenance and automotive service technology to basic health care skills, collision repair technology, entrepreneurship and job skill demonstration. The idea is to give students the opportunity to compete in real world, hands-on situations. First place winners at the state level move onto the SkillsUSA Championships.
“This provides a wonderful opportunity for networking with business and industry as well as Technical faculty from across the state and technical students desiring employment connections,” Carmack said. “Students who distinguish themselves as state level gold medalists gain a distinction that will follow them throughout their technical career. Students who earn a gold medal at the national level will earn a distinction with excellent potential and high regard among equipment manufacturers and industry leaders.”
In addition to the 16 gold medals KCKCC students brought home from the state competition, KCKCC was awarded the highest state honor to be granted by Skills USA, “Gold Chapter of Distinction.”
This award is presented to the chapter who participates fully in all functions of a SkillsUSA Chapter and exceeds expectations (that is, officer elections, community service projects, membership levels, fundraising, and employer engagement). The KCKCC Skills Chapter hosted 10 state level contests and participated in 14 contests either here at KCKCC-TEC or in Hutchison, Kan., at the state conference in also in April.
SkillsUSA medalists include:
Cosmetology – C’Yaundra Morrell, gold; Kelsey Davis, gold; JaNee Brown, silver and Valerie Robare, bronze.
Esthetics – Keely Shea Ward, gold; Jessica Duenas, gold; Audrey Murphy, silver; Michaela Mallotte, silver and Lynesha McDaniel, bronze.
Esthetics – Model – Mireya Alvarado, gold; Majari Julian, gold; Christina Solis Hall, silver; Sunny Conrad, silver and Tristyn Grube, bronze.
Major Appliance Tech – Dylan Walker, gold; Sergei Shapoval, gold; Sam Kendrick, silver; Josh Marshall, bronze and Tuan Kim, bronze.
Nail Care – Julissa Ojeda Najera, gold; Diana Valenzuela-Silva, gold; Belen Banuelos, silver;
Nails – Model – Juana Herrera, gold; Mercades Nelson, gold and Ja’Leayhia Spencer, silver.
Plumbing – Andrew Williams, gold; Caeleb Whisler, silver; Scott Smith, silver and Ronald Thomas, bronze.
Culinary Arts – Abigail Lee, bronze.
Commercial Baking – Nancy Mascote, gold and Marcela Zamora, silver.
Restaurant Services – Brenda Simmons-Hood, gold; Ramona Price, silver; Juan Aguilera, silver and Amelia Anderson, bronze.
Collision Repair Tech – Justin Dempsay, gold; Vaughn Weaver, silver; Luis Meraz and Jesus Ramos.
Students competing, but who did not receive medals include:
Automotive Service Tech – Zachary Kong, Donavan Thomas-Brown, Nicholas Casteel and Arturo Perez.
Carpentry – Zachary Harrison.
Auto Refinishing Tech – Ricki Wood.
Electrical Construction Wiring – Jesse Polt and Justin Nash.
Welding – Jose Marquez, Dean Cochran, Jake Roe and Jeffrey Richey.
Welding Fabrication – Brady Sullivan, Logan Cross and Jeremy Kane.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at KCKCC.