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Atlanta, GA – The 2011 SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference and Career Expo began like every other year since its beginning. Students and teachers pour in from all corners of Georgia with one thing in mind: Gold.
No, they aren't headed to Dahlonega to pan for gold – they've descended on Atlanta to compete using the career and technical skills they've been learning throughout their high school career. Thousands of Georgia's high school students gathered at the Georgia International Conference Center March 17 – 19 to compete in categories such as Automotive, Construction, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Graphic Design, Preschool Teaching, Video Production, and so many more. Students have the opportunity to place in their category for Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals. Gold medal winners will advance to the National competition in Kansas City in June.
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| SkillsUSA state champions |
"RCA has been building toward this for the past couple years," said Gayle Silvey, SkillsUSA State Director. "RCA has strong adult leadership, but the student leaders are stepping up and making sure everyone is prepared." Silvey said that RCA has been pushing their student leaders toward excellence by paying attention to detail. In addition to being able to perform in their respective contest areas, the RCA competitors were armed with content knowledge and an understanding of the technical standards, all of which are required for a successful competition. The student leaders at RCA have succeeded in preparing the SkillsUSA competitors by ensuring that "the details are complete for this conference." Silvey said. "All the little pieces contribute to the big piece, which is winning."
SkillsUSA advisors James Dinsmoor and Nitzana Mamane, Broadcast Video Production instructors, and Matt Mahathey, Public Safety instructor, accompanied their students to the state conference. Mahathey's Public Safety students also represented RCA well. Alex Siebert, Jalynn Wilford, Kayla Watson competed in Crime Scene Investigation, Derek Boyd in Criminal Justice, and Akin Robinson in Fire Fighting. They didn't place this year, but that may be because they are newcomers to the SkillsUSA state competition. "Besides myself, my students were also experiencing this for the first time" Mahathey said.
Medals or no medals, Mahathey is still very proud of the effort his students put forth. "As I had the chance to observe them competing, I was very pleased with the skill level they demonstrated," he said. "They made me proud this week with their display of knowledge and ability to overcome challenges." Mr. Mahathey is ready to prepare his students for next year's state competition and is confident his students will place in the top three as well.
Other RCA students who competed were Chris Cole in Computer Maintenance and Saige Rowe in Photography.The following students are the First Place, Gold Medals winners who will go on to compete at the national level at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City June 19 – June 24.
Arsenio Archer and Jason Gellman – State Champion, Audio / Radio Production
Mike Bodine, Shavonn Bennette, Mattison Lakstigala, Karley Wilson – State Champion, Broadcast News Production
Mandy Dinsmoor – State Champion, Pin Design (Her design will be the official SkillsUSA state pin next year)
Amanda Moreno – State Champion, Prepared Speech (2nd year in a row)
Mark Cisco and Devin McPherson – State Champion, Television (Video) Production
Camryn Bradley and Chase Sickler – State Champion, Video Product Development (In addition to his medal, Camryn also produced a video that was played during the awards ceremony)
In addition to these state champions, RCA also produced two First Place state champions in the "state only" competitions:
Chapter Recruitment Video
Video of the Champions
Audio/Radio Commercial
Television Radio Production
Going To Kansas City
Camryn Bradley, Amanda Moreno – First Place, Chapter Recruitment Video ProductionTo see more from the RCA champions, check out their YouTube channel go to www.facebook.com and look for SkillsUSA Rockdale Career Academy or you can follow them on Twitter @SkillsUSARCA. Below is a slide show of some of the activities from the state conference, as well as a video showcasing all of the champions.
Remington Bayley and Mandy Dinsmoor – First Place, SkillsUSA Georgia Commercial
Pictures
Chapter Recruitment Video
Video of the Champions
Audio/Radio Commercial
Television Radio Production
Going To Kansas City
