More than 100 Career and Technical Education students from the F. Donald Myers Education Center, Southern Adirondack Education Center and Early College Career Academy at WSWHE BOCES participated in dozens of competitions at the 2024 NYS SkillsUSA Area 3 competition (Regional Competition) on March 18, 2024.
The SkillsUSA regional competition pitted the top winners from local competitions from the various technical schools in northeastern New York. In addition to WSWHE BOCES, other students were from Capital Region BOCES, Champlain Valley Educational Services and Questar III. The competitions were held at Capital Region BOCES.
The competitions measure students’ skills in their chosen field of study including criminal justice, cosmetology, HVAC-R, advertising design, food preparation, carpentry, welding, auto repair, first aid/CPR, and much more, in addition to presentation skills, interview skills and public speaking. Students are given an assignment that must be completed within a set time frame. Leaders in business and industry judge the contests.
The winners of this competition are now moving on to the NY State Competitions that are planned for April 24 to 26, 2024 at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY.
SkillsUSA Advisor and WSWHE BOCES Culinary Instructor, Chef Nick Zwart will be awarded the National Hall of Champion award at the SkillsUSA National Conference in June. The SkillsUSA Hall of Champions Award is an honor given to those who have dedicated their lives, at a national level, to helping youth develop the components of the SkillsUSA Framework necessary to be successful in a changing world. Their legacy on SkillsUSA will continue far beyond their career.
SkillsUSA Advisor Brandon Aldous, Business and Entrepreneurship Instructor from the Early College Career Academy, was nominated locally as Area III’s NYS SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year. The Advisor of the Year Award provides local chapters the opportunity to recognize an advisor for their hard work and dedication. The state recipient is automatically nominated for the National Advisor of the Year Award - those results will be determined at the April Conference. These nominations come after a review of the advisor's experience with SkillsUSA, their philosophy on implementing the SkillsUSA Framework and Essential Elements in the classroom and more.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It is a national nonprofit organization devoted to rewarding students for excellence, for involving industry in directly evaluating student performance and in keeping career training relevant to employers’ needs.
See the SkillsUSA Special Bulletins attached (PDF) for the SkillsUSA Regional Competition Results.
More photos are available on some of the program’s Facebook pages. Click here to visit the WSWHE BOCES Facebook page for a glance at some of the photos.