Students Earn Eleven Awards at State SkillsUSA
Edgecombe Community College students brought home eleven awards, including five gold medals, from the SkillsUSA state competition held in April. From left are Carlos Rojas Gabriel, Ewan Poyner, and Daniel Espinoza Hernandez, who received a gold medal in Career Pathways Showcase – Industrial and Engineering Technology (Post Secondary).
Edgecombe Community College students brought home eleven awards, including five gold medals, from the SkillsUSA state competition held in April in Greensboro.
Forty-three students and eleven instructors participated in the competition. Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA offers a competition for students to demonstrate their career and technical skills.
“It is awesome to see so many students rise to the challenge and opportunity presented by SkillsUSA and to be supported and encouraged by our advisors and parents!” says ECC President Dr. Greg McLeod.
The ECC chapter provides leadership-building activities for students enrolled in vocational, trade and industrial, technical, and cosmetology curriculum and continuing education programs.
Five SkillsUSA teams placed first, winning GOLD MEDALS:
- Automotive Tool ID (Post Secondary)
Haley Lamm
Advisor Chris Sullivan - Career Pathways Showcase – Industrial and Engineering Technology (Post Secondary)
Daniel Espinoza Hernandez, Ewan Poyner, Carlos Rojas Gabriel
Advisors Rebecca Stamilio Ehret, Trey Cherry, Johnica Ellis Kiser - Principles of Engineering (Secondary – Edgecombe Early College High School)
Brody Hoke
Advisors Rebecca Stamilio Ehret, Trey Cherry, Johnica Ellis Kiser - Principles of Engineering (Post Secondary)
Payden Kiser
Advisors Trey Cherry, Johnica Ellis Kiser, Rebecca Stamilio Ehret - Skill Project Showcase: Metalworking (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Cian Agee, Austin Andrews, Rylan Brewer, Logan Collier, Cole Davis, Ian Delap, Mark Duke, Jake Frazier, Aaron Garibay, Leon Maldonado, Brandon Martinez, Daniel Morin Hernandez, Juan Morin Hernandez, D’Andre Thompson
Advisor Josh Briggs
Two teams place second, earning SILVER MEDALS.
- Skill Project Showcase: Carpentry (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Chris Davis, Bubba More, Tamarion Phillips, Victoria Pierce, Taylor Pierce, Landen Proctor, Ryan Taylor
Advisor Kevin Strickland - Skill Project Showcase: Engineering (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Caleb Arellano, Luis Barajas, Imali Bynum, Mike Radford
Advisor Rebecca Stamilio Ehret
Placing third and bringing home a BRONZE MEDAL was Skill Project Showcase Metalworking (Post Secondary), with team members Matthew Campbell, Dawson Hines, and Advisor Warren Lynch.
Three teams captured FOURTH PLACE:
- Skill Project Showcase Metalworking (Post Secondary)
Nick Khalaf
Advisor Warren Lynch - Welding Sculpture (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Skyla Driver
Advisor Josh Briggs - Welding Sculpture (Post Secondary)
Nikolai Fecho
Advisor Warren Lynch
Students also competed in the following competitions:
- Construction Tool ID (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Tamarion Philips, Taylor Pierce, Landen Proctor
Advisor Kevin Strickland - Fantasy Hair and Makeup (Post Secondary)
Yahayra Barrientos, Keagan Roberson, Gracie Hudson (model), Johana Reyes Urbina (model) Advisors Carolyn Sherrill and Hannah Williams - Skill Project Showcase: Carpentry (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Cole Davis, Timothy Lewis, Mike Radford
Advisor Kevin Strickland - Welding (Post Secondary)
Dawson Hines
Advisor Warren Lynch - Welding Sculpture (Secondary – SouthWest Edgecombe High School)
Mark Duke, Char’Quavis James
Advisor Josh Briggs
Additionally, instructors Stephen Dupree and Curtis Street attended to help with logistics and to see how they could integrate SkillsUSA into their programs.
Career Pathways Showcase and Principles of Engineering are national level competitions. Those gold medalists will compete at the SkillsUSA National Skills and Leadership Conference in Atlanta in June.
ECC President Dr. Greg McLeod and Michael Starling, dean of the Division of Technical and Continuing Education, also attended the SkillsUSA competition to cheer on ECC competitors.
More than 2,900 students competed in over 130 hands-on skilled, technical, and leadership development competitive events during the state SkillsUSA conference. ECC has competed in the SkillsUSA state competition since 2015, except 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.
SkillsUSA Advisor Trey Cherry, who has worked with the ECC chapter since it began, says the growth in student interest and their skill level has been inspiring.
“What excites me the most is watching the students’ personal growth over the course of the year as they prepare for the competition,” he says. “In addition to refining their technical abilities, they strengthen their teamwork and communication skills. I gain as much from watching them as they do from competing. I am so proud of our students!”