LCCTC SkillsUSA team wins back-to-back gold

New Castle, PA — April 22, 2017 — We are proud to announce that the Opening and Closing team from Lawrence County CTC has, once again, brought home the gold medal from the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania competition on April 19-21, 2017; this is the second year in a row that the O & C team has won first place at state competition in Hershey, PA. The O & C team consists of two veterans:  President Jacob Troutman, COT senior from New Castle and Vice President Jenna Locke, CA senior from Ellwood City.  First year members include Parliamentarian Brandee D’Ambrosi, CA junior from New Castle; Reporter Dayuna Ware, HA sophomore from New Castle; Treasurer Tristyn Gravatt, CA junior from Union; Secretary Krista Berkley, Cos junior from Laurel; and Historian Felicity Weir, Cos junior from Shenango.  The team is thrilled to return to compete against other gold medalists from across the country in Louisville, Kentucky for the 53rd SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference on June 19-23, 2017.

Additionally, we are proud to announce that the Chapter Display Team earned a second place silver medal.  The team consisted of Electrical Occupations Students Noah Skelly and Stormy Fiello, and Machine Tool Tech student Trevor Cunningham, all sophomores from Ellwood City.

“We couldn’t be more proud of our students and staff here at LCCTC,” comments Principal Mike Milanovich.  “Their success goes to show that our home schools are sending us quality students.  The community should be proud of these students, as well.”

The annual SkillsUSA conference was where students, all state regional contest winners, competed hands-on in 93 different trade, technical and leadership fields.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments from each of our competitors,” said Christina Weisenstein and John Goebel, SkillsUSA advisors at LCCTC. “By showing their dedication to excellence in occupational and leadership skills, the Opening and Closing team, the Chapter Display team, and the other thirteen students who participated in the SkillsUSA State competition are true ‘Champions at Work.’”

Just prior to the awards ceremony, Gov. Tom Wolf, former forklift operator and lumber and building materials business owner, spoke about the importance of training students for career-ready skills.  He congratulated SkillsUSA Pennsylvania for Preparing America’s Skilled Workforce for the last 50 years and congratulated the students who worked so hard to make it to state competition.

During this annual PA SkillsUSA State Championships, more than 1,700 outstanding career and technical education students worked against the clock and themselves, proving their expertise in leadership contests like the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.  Every student worked hard to earn their way to state competition. Outstanding LCCTC students who also demonstrated their skills in trades include the following: Samara Grimes for Basic Health Care,  Ben Schwartz for Chapter Cake Decorating, Dawson Fair for CNC Technician, Taylor Dilling for Employment Application Process, Dom Fobes for Masonry, Michael Birkbickler and Kyle Roxberry for Mechatronics, Devin Dilling for Welding Sculpture, and Gemma Gatto, Jaden Locke, and Tabatha Zang for Promotional Bulletin Board.  Brianna Burgin and Macheala Nail served as delegates, helping to elect next year’s state officers.

Mr. Leonard Rich, Director at LCCTC is ecstatic:  “We are impressed, humbled and excited about the performance of all our students at state level competition. A particular congratulations goes to the Opening and Closing Team who defended their state title!”

SkillsUSA is a national partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA chapters help every student excel while preparing for careers in technical, skilled, and service occupations. SkillsUSA has more than 300,000 students and instructors as members.

For more information, visit: www.SkillsUSA.org.

Photos and article submitted.