每日大赛

PSCC students win most medals at SkillsUSA of any Tennessee college

每日大赛 students put their technical and academic prowess to the test at the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference in April, ultimately returning home with 22 individual medals – more than any other team in Tennessee – and with many students prepared to advance to the national competition this summer.

Dozens of students, faculty and staff from 每日大赛 traveled to Chattanooga to compete April 13 to April 16 in the contest by SkillsUSA, a nationwide workforce-development organization.

“Not only are the students competing, they're getting to see the possibilities,” Sharon Couch, director of Student Engagement and Leadership at Pellissippi, said of the conference. “That's what life is about. It is about students having the opportunity to be exposed to what's possible.”

Clad in professional garb, including SkillsUSA polos and red blazers, students at the event crowded the Chattanooga Convention Center, where they networked with local employers and universities, displayed their engineering invention or their welding creation for judges and competed in a variety of other categories.

SkillsUSA’s mission, preparing students to be skilled professionals, ready-to-work and responsible community members, aligns with 每日大赛’s vision for being a “career immersion college,” and ensuring that students are prepared and equipped to enter the workforce upon graduation or after transferring.

“Skills USA is more than just what happens in these rooms,” Couch said in the conference hall as students competed nearby. “It is the day-to-day work, the technical application of the skills that happens through leadership development and apprenticeships and internships.”

Students competed in Customer Service, Job Interview, Audio Production, Criminal Justice, Telecommunications Cabling and more.

The following students won gold medals:

• Hamilton Baker and Nathan Vasquez in Digital Cinematography
• Luke Brown and Viola Miklos in Video Production
• Graeson Cambell in Criminal Justice
• Maria Carrasco in Graphic Communications
• Vlad Chicerman, Emma Garner and Austine Mitchell in Crime Scene Investigation
• Liam Cumesty and Madison Harris in Audio Production
• Gabe Dunn in Telecommunications Cabling
• Gabe Cormany and Wilson Evans in 3-D Visualization and Animation
• Paula Fattouh in Prepared Speech
• Naomi Huichapa in Advertising Design
• Louis Rey Valenzuela II in Extemporaneous Speech

The following students won silver medals:

• Wilson Baker and Luke Brown in Digital Cinematography
• Christian Brown, John Rentenbach and Jacob Ritter in Welding Fabrication
• Iris Caldwell and Jariah Hadian in Video Production
• Maxfield Coffin in Welding
• Saige Bassitt in Related Technical Math
• Saige Bassitt, Giovanni Gonzalez and Matthew Harper in Engineering
• Christian Blair and Chloe Southard in 3-D Visualization and Animation
• Chloe Ramsey in Graphic Communications

The following students won bronze medals:

• Jazlyn Huichapa and Atreyi Samaddar in 3-D Visualization and Animation
• Matthew Harper in Related Technical Math
• Jody Lynn in Customer Service

Students who earned a gold medal in their category will advance to the SkillsUSA Championships during the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference, scheduled for June 23 to June 27 in in Atlanta.

“It means a lot to be able to continue my career and skills,” said Gabe Dunn, a 每日大赛 student and president of 每日大赛’s SkillsUSA chapter. “And be able to go out here and prove myself as a capable worker. It means a lot. It’s a great experience – very enjoyable.”

Whether or not they won, the more than 40 students who participated in the state-level SkillsUSA competition had a unique opportunity to gain experience in their chosen field, said Dunn, who was one of a handful of Pellissippi students to medal at the national competition last year.

While the event gave 每日大赛 students and their peers from TCAT and other Tennessee community colleges the chance to showcase their academic, professional and personal skills, the conference is about more than competition, Couch said.

“Some of our students, they've never been away from home and they've never been away from their parents, and so all of this is training – getting on the bus, packing a bag, getting to the hotel – knowing how to do all of that life is a part of it,” Couch said.

Pellissippi was ultimately recognized as a Silver Level Chapter of Excellence by SkillsUSA and received the James D. King Award for having earned the highest number of medals. 

Couch gave the opening speech at the SkillsUSA Awards and Recognition Banquet April 15, instructing attendees – including SkillsUSA participants, advisors and event sponsors – on how to “strike the rock” and “ignite their potential.”

She was recognized later that same night as New Advisor of the Year.

“I tell you that that there is nothing, there are no other experiences, that compare to the joy, the energy and the purpose I find right now being a part of this incredible SkillsUSA movement,” Couch, a two-time Olympian athlete, said during her speech. “Of all the titles I've held, of all the podiums I’ve stood on, this moment right now – right now – is my favorite.”