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FSCC students to display skills
Two Fort Scott Community College students will be competing at the national SkillsUSA Championships June 24-25 in Kansas City.
Students who received a first place finish during the state contest will attend the national championships to compete in more than 90 different trade, technical and leadership fields. The two qualifying FSCC students, Randy Hurd and Tyler Barrett, will advance in the categories of masonry and motorcycle service technology.
Hurd competed along with other students from Kansas in the SkillsUSA motorcycle service technology competition on March 6 at the FSCC Harley-Davidson Training Center in Frontenac.
"I competed last year and took fourth, so I made sure that I came more prepared this year," Hurd said. "Even with the extra preparation, the competition was still very challenging."
Hurd received the gold medal for the state of Kansas in motorcycle technology at an award ceremony in Wichita in April, and also an invitation to the national competition. Hurd said he credit his success to great coaching, teaching and personal help from classmate Neil Murphy, who received the state and national gold for SkillsUSA motorcycle service technology in 2008.
Barrett recently finished his junior year at Pittsburg High School where he participated in a masonry class through the new FSCC construction trades program. In the spring, Barrett competed in the Kansas SkillsUSA competition, which was hosted by the FSCC construction trades program. During an awards ceremony in Wichita, Barrett received a gold medal in masonry. He will compete in the national SkillsUSA Championships later this month in Kansas City.
The SkillsUSA Championships is conducted together with the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference that is typically attended by more than 14,000 people. Students participate as voting delegates for their state, elect their national officers, conduct the business of their organization, meet with business and industry representatives, and hear from government officials. More than 5,000 students compete in more than 90 occupational and leadership skill areas during the SkillsUSA Championships.
SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves students who are involved in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations in public high schools, career and technical centers, and schools and two-year colleges. Each year, the organization has more than 300,000 student members who are organized into more than 16,000 sections and 54 state and territorial associations, including Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. SkillsUSA has served more than 9.6 million members.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce and to help each student excel. The organization is an applied method for preparing America's high performance workers in public career and technical programs.
The organization provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. It builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitudes and communication skills. The association emphasizes total quality at work, high ethical standards, superior work skills, life-long education, and pride in the dignity of work. SkillsUSA also promotes understanding of the free enterprise system and involvement in community service activities.
More than 16,291 teacher and school administrators serve as professional SkillsUSA members and instructors, More than 1,800 corporations, trade associations and labor unions actively support SkillsUSA through financial aid, in-kind contributions, and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. Many more work directly with state associations and local chapters.