ECC Teams Win Top Prizes at National SkillsUSA
A team from Edgecombe Community College won first place in the nation in Industrial and Engineering Technology Career Pathway at the recent SkillsUSA national conference. From left, receiving 1st place medals are Jilianne Leary and Kaitlyn Tripp. Ruben Gaytan-Ledezma, the third member of the team, was unable to attend the awards ceremony.
Edgecombe Community College students received four national awards, including first place, at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held last week in Louisville, Kentucky.
The conference is a showcase of career and technical education students. More than 16,000 people – including students, teachers, and business partners – participated in the event, held June 19-23.
ECC’s Industrial and Engineering Technology Career Pathway team members brought home first place. The new national champions are team members Jilianne Leary, Ruben Gaytan-Ledezma, and Kaitlyn Tripp.
Isaac Carlos and Emilee Moore, members of the Engineering Technology and Design team, captured fourth place. These high school students competed without their third team member, and, at ages 15 and 16, they participated at the collegiate level rather than the high school category.
Both of these teams competed at SkillsUSA using data and demonstrations based on the NASA/NC Space Grant unmanned high altitude balloon challenge in April. In this statewide competition, ECC students received three out of the five top awards.
The Human Services Career Pathway team, with members Elizabeth Cross and Misty Griffin, placed fifth.
Larry Peaden competed strongly in the individual Criminal Justice competition and placed eighth.
ECC Teamworks members Ontrel Bobbitt, Cole Bost, Chandler Myrick, and Merdikea Williams also worked hard in their competition.
“We are very proud of our students and their advisers,” says ECC President Dr. Deborah Lamm. “Trade and skilled labor is critical to the smooth operation of our country.
“Part of our mission at Edgecombe Community College is to increase awareness of the value of career and technical education and to equip our students with the skills they need to be successful in these fields.”
Team advisers were ECC instructors Rick Basile, Timothy Boyd, Trey Cherry, Dave Rummel, and Rebecca Stamilio Ehret.
More than 6,000 outstanding career and technical education students – all state contest winners – competed in 100 different trade, technical, and leadership events at the national conference.
Students worked against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting, and culinary arts.