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WACTC students shine at regional Skills USA state competition; heading to states

2 min read

Sixteen Western Area Career and Technical Center students earned top district honors in their trade skills at a recent SkillsUSA competition.

Now, they’ve set their sights on a state title.

WCATC earned 14 gold medals in the SkillsUSA competition held at Central Westmoreland CTC.

Next up is the state competition, scheduled for April 12-14 in Hershey.

The students showed expertise in diverse areas such as carpentry, baking and pastry arts, emergency protective services, cosmetology, job interview, and collision repair. They competed against their peers from District 9, which includes six counties. 

The SkillsUSA Championships are career competition events held annually showcasing the best career and technical education students in the nation. Contests are hosted at state and national levels. The nationals will be held in Atlanta, Ga., in June.

“They’re doing great things. They’re super excited, and We’re so proud of them,” said Allison Scaife, Skills USA advisor and a cosmetology teacher at WACTC. “It’s the most first-place winners we’ve ever had.”

The goal of the Championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industries in directly evaluating student performance, and to keep training relevant to employers’ needs.

Following are the students who are competing in the state competition:

Chelsea Patrick (Washington School District), Automotive Refinishing); Jeffrey Chickis (Canon-McMillan School District), Collision Repair; Lucas Strimmel (Chartiers-Houston School District), Culinary Arts; Emma Raffaele (Peters Township School District), Job Interview; Leighanna Namit and Heidy Almo (Chartiers-Houston), Macey Kappeler, Lilyann Hall and Mackenzie Kennedy (Canon-McMillan), Serenity King (Trinity Area School District), Caelin McGowan (McGuffey), Opening and Closing Ceremony; Providence King (Trinity Area School District), Prepared Speech; Bryson Chan (Peters Township School District), Technical Computer Applications; Damiel Shaffer (Canon-McMillan), Courtesy Corps; Triniti Brooks (Canon-McMillan), Head Delegate; Olivia Patton (Washington School District), State Officer Applicant.

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