Carroll County Times |

Dayhoff: Carroll students earn medals at Maryland SkillsUSA State Championship

Students, parents, and teachers filled the Carroll County Agriculture Center on the evening of April 13 for the awards ceremony for the 51st Annual SkillsUSA Maryland State Championship.

The SkillsUSA Maryland website reports, “SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) serving middle school, high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.

“SkillsUSA provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. These experiences build and reinforce self-confidence, a strong work ethic and effective communications skills.”

According to information provided by SkillsUSA Maryland, “The SkillsUSA Maryland State Championship provides an opportunity for Maryland Career and Technical Education (CTE) high school students from across the state to showcase leadership and technical skills in a wide variety of program-aligned competitions.”

The emphasis on an education in the skilled trades has grown rapidly in the last number of decades. In Carroll County, The Democratic Advocate reported on Aug. 16, 1971, “the Carroll County Vocational Technical Center will open its doors on schedule September 7 for the first-year operation of the new program, a school official said this week.”

An article in Carroll Magazine by Linda Esterson, on Aug. 3, 2022, reported, the “Carroll County Public Schools’ Career and Technology Center … is currently undergoing a $67.6 million renovation and expansion. It’s scheduled to be completed in six phases …

“Enrollment at the facility dropped to fewer than 300 students in the late ’80s and early ’90s and the program was dangerously close to being closed.”

In the Carroll Magazine article, William Eckles, a former principal and now supervisor of career and technical education at CCPS said, “Enrollment in Career and Technology education programs has grown steadily since the late 1990s. … Students increasingly recognize the value of learning skills and earning certifications as they prepare for their careers.”

Esterson concluded that “When the Career and Technology Center upgrades are completed … the facility will be better able to meet student’s instructional needs as well as the needs of an ever-changing education and job market.”

Television personality Mike Rowe recognizes the “needs of an ever-changing education and job market.” Rowe, who was born and raised in Baltimore County, is a vocal advocate in trade activism. He is best known for his work on the Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs.”

In a public service announcement Rowe produced for SkillsUSA in July 2022, he reports, “Hundreds of thousands of the highly skilled technical jobs our economy increasingly depends on are available right now, and industry is desperate to fill them …

“SkillsUSA has fostered [highly skilled technical jobs training] since 1965, declaring a mission to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens,” Rowe says.

In an effort to do our part locally to foster an interest in an education in the trades, more than 1,100 students from all over Maryland traveled to Carroll County April 12 and 13 to participate in 65 skills competitions in eight locations.

Most of the competitions took place in Carroll County. Six contests took place at the BWI Airport Marriott, 26 at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, five at the Carroll County Agriculture Center, six contests at the Carroll County Public Safety Training Center, five at the Gateway School, two at Mudgett’s Auto Body, three at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 486 Training Center and two contests at the Toyota Central Atlantic Regional Training Center.

Forty students from Carroll County won medals. The gold medal winners will go on to the national competition this summer in Atlanta. Every high school in Carroll County was represented in the awards ceremony.

William Hobbs and Luke Petersen were medal winners in the Additive Manufacturing Team category; Abigail Burke won for Advertising Design; and Matt Mawhinney won in the Architectural Design category.

Two Broadcast News Production Teams that included Layla Cox, Sarina Kapoor, Noah Montgomery, Emma Taff, Zach Facchine, Maya Giermek, Peyton Sederquist, and Kiera St. Pierre, won awards.

Emily Uhlman won an award for Commercial Baking; Caitlyn Wildasin and Brooke Sims for Criminal Justice; Wyatt Frederick for Diesel Equipment Technology; and JoyKim Huynh and Laney Miller won in the “Digital Cinema Production Team” category.

Jonas Blattau, Kaushik Inguva, and Ben Smith won an award in the Engineering Design Team category; Elena Castonguay in Job Interview; Luca Anderson and Nico Marsicano in Masonry; and Morgan Robbins and Allie Wallace won an award in the Photography category.

Hayley Boore won an award for Pin Design; Rylee Lease, Sarah Rennolds and Nisachon Sillence were winners in the Promotional Bulletin Board Team category; Ella Moxley won for T-Shirt Design; and Payson Clausen, Carter Wright, Kyle DelRegno, and Shawn Huynh were winners in the TV Video Production Team category.

Dylan Airing, Pieter Borghans and Tyler Simpkins were winners in the Welding Fabrications category, and Nick LoPreato won in the Welding Sculpture category.

Carroll County Agriculture Center manager Heather Kuykendall, Carroll County Public Schools Communications Officer W. Carey Gaddis, and SkillsUSA Maryland directors Eric Millham, Jack Newkirk, and Josie Wolfe contributed to this article.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. His Time Flies column appears every Sunday. Email him at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.