Columbus NE—Two Mitchell Technical Institute students, along with three Mitchell High School students, recently participated in the SkillsUSA Mid-America Leadership Conference held in Columbus, Nebraska, October 28-31. Jean Van Driel, Mitchell, and John McNaughton, Vermillion, both MTI students, and Damian Hartley, Sergey Pretre and Evelyn Prewitt from the Mitchell Career and Technical Academy (MCTEA), along with nine others from South Dakota, represented the state during this four day event designed to prepare the future leaders of each state’s SkillsUSA organization.
The students participated in a variety of activities which help develop confidence and skills in public speaking, creative problem solving, and critical thinking. Attending this conference is often the first step toward state or national leadership in SkillsUSA.
Several competitions were also held as part of the conference. Placing in their respective contests from this area included McNaughton, First Place, Chapter Business Procedures and Second Place, Job Interview; and Pretre, MCTEA, First Place, Fund Raising Contest. Prewitt, MCTEA, was elected treasurer of the black chapter.
Van Driel, who serves as a national officer for the organization, attended along with two other national officers.
SkillsUSA is a nationwide partnership of business and industry, career/technical instructors and students. Its goals are to motivate students, teach leadership skills, assist teachers with quality program development, and provide quality workers to business and industry. More than 300,000 student and instructors join SkillsUSA annually, organized into more than 19,333 sections and 52 state and territorial associations. SkillsUSA has served more than 11 million members.
Mitchell advisors who attended were Justin Hauge, MTI, and Eric Schramm, MCTEA.
