Students bring home nearly four-dozen awards
Nearly four dozen Career & Tech students won
awards at the March 14 SkillsUSA Regional Competition at
Schenectady County Community College, where they competed against
their peers in career, knowledge and employment skill
contests.
Team Career & Tech brought home 13 first-place place trophies, eight
second-place awards, 10 third-place honors, 13 fourth-place awards
and three fifth-place awards. Several of the honorees will advance to
the New York State SkillsUSA competition April 25-27 in Syracuse.
SkillsUSA is a national organization for career and technical
education students, and competitions are held annually at the
regional, state and national levels. At Career & Tech, SkillsUSA
members are school leaders and good citizens. They organize
campus-wide events such as holiday food and fund drives, community
service projects and blood drives. Recognizable by their red
blazers, SkillsUSA members also serve as school ambassadors,
welcoming guests to such Career & Tech events as the fall open house
and BOCES Annual Meeting.
Dallas Mesick of Duanesburg is a Criminal Justice student at
Schoharie Career & Tech who is not only that campus’ SkillsUSA
chapter president, but also serves as New York State SkillsUSA
president. In that position, he leads more than 10,000 career and
technical education students like himself in activities that build
professional and personal skills. Participating in SkillsUSA, said
Mesick, is a “life-changing experience.”
“A lot of kids may have low confidence, and then they win their
competition at regionals, and even go on to states, and they are
like completely different people,” Mesick said. “Before SkillsUSA,
I, myself, was not outgoing — loud maybe — but shy in front of
others. Then, I gave a speech at the SkillsUSA Fall Leadership
Conference and I loved it, and wanted to run for president. I now
love to speak in front of people and inspire them.”
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