Fourteen area students have earned the right to compete in the national SkillsUSA competition June 24-28 in Atlanta, Ga.
Representing Mitchell Technical College, the following students earned Gold honors in their respective competitions at the S.D. SkillsUSA competition held in Rapid City in April:
- Matthew Jons, Architectural Design
- Zach Uhl, Cabinet Making
- Corbin Cheeseman, CNC Milling Specialist
- Layne Guindon, Customer Service
- Andrew Jons, Electrical Construction Wiring
- Brett Williamson, Industrial Motor Control
- Conner Odens, Marine Service Technology
- Cadence Juhnke, Practical Nursing
- Alex Schoenenberger, Brady Sprik, Robotics and Automation
- Carter Christopherson and Tanner Swanson, Robotics Urban Search and Rescue
- Riley Hunter and Kaden Axsom, TV Video Production
- Corbin Cheeseman, Welding Sculpture
At the high school level, the following Mitchell Career and Technical Education Academy students earned Gold honors:
- Alfredo Salcido and Gabe Schneider, Mobile Robotics Technology
- Lilly Young, Photography
Other MTC and MCTEA students earning awards at the state contest included the following:
Silver
- Nathan Quatier (MTC), Heating, Ventilation, Cooling and Refrigeration
- Gilberto Gonzalez (MTC), Industrial Motor Control
- Wyatt Savage and Ben Hawkinson (MTC), Robotics Urban Search and Rescue
- Connor Axtell and Tyler Schroeder (MCTEA), Mobile Robotics Technology
- Taylor DeJong (MCTEA), Photography
Bronze
- Layne Guindon (MTC), Information Technology Services
- Kaden Axsom, Casey Miller and Sergey Pretre (MTC), Welding Team Fabrication
- Landon Morales (MCTEA), Automotive Maintenance/Light Repair
- Annaliese Salcido Velazquez (MCTEA), Photography
- Vee Kampmann (MCTEA), Welding
More than 6,000 state champion career and technical education students will compete at the national conference in their respective categories. In the event that a South Dakota student or team earning a gold medal is unable to attend nationals, the opportunity will be presented to a lower-ranking team.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. A nonprofit national education association, SkillsUSA serves middle school, high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.
Local advisors for the organization include Jason Juhnke at MTC and Daniel Zard at MCTEA.
