Mid-Maine TECH students prepare for SkillsUSA
Championships
WATERVILLE For Mid-Maine Technical Center students, the annual SkillsUSA Championships
provide an opportunity to pit their knowledge and abilities against the best
career and technical students in their school, state, and nation.
Preparations are already underway at Mid-Maine TECH for their Local SkillsUSA Championships and Open House February 12 & 13 at the TECH Center. Gold medalists in competitions are eligible to compete at the State SkillsUSA Championships in Bangor on March 8 & 9. State Gold medal winners will be eligible to compete at the National SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, MO June 25-29.
SkillsUSA Advisor Ed Maroon said, The instructors have been talking to their students about it and starting to select who is going to compete. Maroon, who has coordinated the competition at Mid-Maine TECH with SkillsUSA Advisor Debbie Duncan in recent years, also said, Weve had students go all the way to Kansas City in past years, and weve had quite a few who have placed in the top 10 in their events there.
Students are selected to compete in the events based on factors including National Skill Standards, academic standing, conduct, and attendance.
Competitions are divided between Leadership events - such as delivering a speech or taking part in a simulated job interview - and Skills categories, where students demonstrate knowledge in a particular area such as architectural drafting or precision machining technology.
Leadership events at Mid-Maine TECH will be held Monday, February 12 during regular school hours. Skills events will be held from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 13, with an awards ceremony to follow at 8:15 p.m. The Local SkillsUSA Championships are open to the public.
We will be awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals, Maroon said.
Students winning first place at the Local SkillsUSA Championships become eligible to represent the school at the State SkillsUSA Championships, where Mid-Maine TECH has done well in past years.
The school has also earned respect at the national level, despite the fierce competition at an event that typically involves more than 4,500 contestants many from much larger schools - in 80 rigorous events judged by industry experts.
The philosophy behind the championships is to reward students for excellence, involve industry directly in evaluating performance, and keep training relevant to employers needs.
For those who do well in the competitions, medals may not be the only reward. Scholarships and other academic incentives are often available to students who make it to the state level of competition.
There are a lot of different awards that are available to those who go to Bangor, Maroon said.
"Just participating is a great benefit to students, as they are forced to focus on honing skills and abilities they will need in the work force," Maroon said.
Skills categories that will be part of the February 13 event include the following:
ACTION SKILLS
ADVERTISING DESIGN
ARCHITECTURAL DRAFTING
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE TECHNOLOGY
CABINETMAKING
CARPENTRY
COLLISION REPAIR TECHNOLOGY
COMMERCIAL BAKING
COMPUTER MAINTANENCE TECHNOLOGY
CULINARY ARTS
FIRE FIGHTING
FIRST AID/CPR
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS
JOB SKILL DEMONSTRATION A
NURSE ASSISTING
PRESCHOOL TEACHING ASSISTANT
RESIDENTIAL WIRING
PRECISION MACHINING TECHNOLOGY
WELDING
Leadership competitions being held February 12 will include the following:
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
HEALTH KNOWLEDGE BOWL
JOB INTERVIEW
PREPARED SPEECH
QUIZ BOWL
RELATED TECHNICAL MATH
Mid-Maine TECH has had three national medalists and ten Top 10 Finishers at the national level. They are as follows:
National SkillsUSA Championship Medalists
2004 Preschool Teaching Assistant
GOLD Medalist Jenny Bragg, Winslow High School
2001 Graphic Communications
SILVER Medalist Scott Libby, Lawrence High School
2000 Computer Maintenance Technology
BRONZE Medalist Nick Ouellette, Messalonskee High School
National SkillsUSA Championships Top Ten Finishers
2006 First Aid/CPR 4th place Katrina Parks
2005 Related Technical Math 6th place Alicia Morgan
2004 Precision Machining Technology 8th place Matt Pelotte
2004 Related Technical Math 7th place Eric Bellandi
2001 Occupational Health & Safety 6th place Josh Beveridge & Chris Feather
1997 Basic Health Care Skills 5th place Hollie Shorey
1994 Graphic Communications 6th place Brian Giguere
1994 Job Demonstration B 8th place Dorie Summerhill
1993 Basic Health Care Skills 7th place Stephanie Mark
1993 Action Skills 5th place Jason Taylor