CVCC Students Bring Home Gold and Silver at National SkillsUSA Competition

2016 CVCC SkillsUSA National Team at Closing Ceremonies June 242c 2016 ImageCatawba Valley Community College students recently won three gold medals in the SkillsUSA National Championships held in Louisville, Ky. The team finished second in the country in two other categories and third in another. In addition, CVCC students finished in the top eight in the country in eight other competitions.

SkillsUSA is an opportunity for high-performance students to match skills against their peers in leadership, teamwork, citizenship, character development, and discipline specific competition. It builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitudes and communications skills. SkillsUSA also promotes understanding of the free-enterprise system and involvement in community service.

CVCC’s SkillsUSA 2016 National Competition winners are:

Computer Integrated Machining 1st Place – Lev Burgess

Entrepreneurship (college level) 1st Place – Nick Joyner, Will Adkins and Tyler Brown

Outstanding Chapter 1st Place – McKayla Setzer

Community Service 2nd Place – Selena Kongmany, Nouda Xiong and Jackie Rasombath

First Aid/CPR 2nd Place – Michael Smith-Altizer

Crime Scene Investigation 3rd Place – Sarah Poore, Abbie Kincaid and Carson Freeman

Entrepreneurship (high school level) 4th Place – Sean Wilson, Jeremy White, Wes Faw and Brian Yang

Quiz Bowl 5th Place – Pang Yang, Kyle Chang, Ashley Kolis, Emily Moore and Megan Turnbull

Prepared Speech 5th Place – Selina Cortez

Firefighting 6th Place – William Barlow

Nail Care 6th Place – E. E. Chang and Zer Chang

Advertising Design 7th Place – Brigid Schnaue

Photography 8th Place – Shawna Huffman

Related Technical Math 8th Place – Sam Mills

Extemporaneous Speaking 14th place – Matt Pruitt

“Our recognition as the best chapter in the country (Outstanding Chapter) for the third year in a row is a tribute to everyone related to our college,” said Gary Muller, dean of the School of Business, Industry & Technology. “This is based on activities that our SkillsUSA chapter—including students, faculty and staff—have undertaken throughout the past year. That includes community service, campus volunteer service, professional development, leadership training, business and industry relations as well as the state and national competitions.”

SkillsUSA faculty advisors who helped prepare the students for and accompanied them to the national competition in Louisville include:

Jennifer Cobb- Advertising Design and Photography

Jennifer Henson – Firefighting

Sherry Herman – Crime Scene Investigation

Amanda Minish – Nail Care

Tammy Muller- Outstanding Chapter, Community Service and Nail Care

Jeff Penley- Extemporaneous and Prepared Speech

Tonja Poole – First Aid/CPR

Steven Rhoads- CNC Technician

Robin Ross- Quiz Bowl

Other faculty advisors who prepared the students and remained on campus during the national competition include:

Michael Boone – Quiz Bowl and Math Competition

Jeff Neuville – Entrepreneurship Competition

Joe Young – Photography Competition

Selena Maxie – travel coordinator and conference registration

CVCC SkillsUSA competitors demonstrated the depth and breadth of skills learned in the classroom through their past top national finalists in Automotive, Cosmetology, Customer Service, Esthetics, Job Interviewing and Welding.

Through the generous support of CVCC’s Board of Trustees and the CVCC Foundation, Inc., students receive the opportunity to participate in this valuable career preparation experience.

For more information about SkillsUSA activities on the CVCC campus, contact Gary Muller, 828-327-7000, ext. 4672, gmuller@cvcc.edu.