MADISON TOWNSHIP — Teamwork. Practice. Persistence. Excellence.
Career tech students across the country are putting those qualities to the test this spring. Competition season is underway for several career tech student organizations, offering students to demonstrate the technical and professional skills they’ve been developing in their programs.
“I think any career tech student organization gives the kids that extra opportunity to see what they’re made of,” said Holly North, an advisor for the BPA (Business Professionals of America) chapter at Madison Comprehensive High School.
“It kind of gets them out of their comfort zone.”
Students compete through different career technical student organizations depending on their program of study. Several students from Madison Comprehensive High School have earned high marks in recent contests, securing their place for contests at the state or national level.
They include seven BPA students, fourteen SkillsUSA students and six FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) students.
Jacob Grove, Madison’s director of career technical education, said those high numbers are a testament to the high school teaching staff.
“I think that goes to show the strength of our instructors and how they’re preparing the kids,” he said. “Everybody’s got a piece of our students’ education in this building.
“So I think it’s a good representation of the body of work that we do here in the high school.”
While some competitions focus on program-specific skills, others test more broad skills like customer service or public speaking.
Cosmetology student Mia Orth initially planned to compete in hairstyling at SkillsUSA. After an injury limited her range of motion in her right arm, she pivoted to customer service and ended up taking second place at regionals.
“You just have to be polite with people. You have to show your concern,” Orth said. “You have to be patient — the qualities that make somebody a natural, good human being.”
Teamwork was key to business professionals win
Four students in the BPA (Business Professionals of America) chapter combined their technical and teamwork skills for a group competition in administrative support.
Students were given information and a list of integrated documents they had to create in ninety minutes — without the use of the Internet or AI.
“Competing is something that I really enjoy because you get to use your skills in real time,” said senior Aubrey Conn.
Madison’s administrative support team walked away with first place trophies and a shot at nationals.
“It was so much nicer to get to experience that (win) with a team,” Conn said. “I think it was a good fit for all of us. We were very good at communicating with each other, dispersing roles and helping each other with everything.”
Conn said she isn’t planning to pursue a career in the business world — she wants to be a teacher — but she’s grateful for the spreadsheet skills she’s acquired. They’ve given her a sense of confidence.
She’s not alone.
After two years in the early childhood education program, Liv Price and Jae Turner have set different long-term goals.
But they say competing within their career tech organization, FCCLA, has improved their public speaking skills.
Price and Turner earned first place in professional presentation during a FCCLA regional competition on Feb. 28.
They chose to do a presentation on emotional regulation for kids.
The pair collected data on different strategies children can use to calm themselves down, as well as how parents can recognize children’s emotions and help them regulate. Then they presented their findings to groups of elementary age children and parents, adapting their approach for each audience.
Their state presentation focused not only on their research, but how they presented it and how audiences responded to the information.
“For the parents, we made it colorful, but we made it professional,” Price said. “But then for the kids, it was full of monsters and things to keep them entertained with it.”
Local competitor skills range from welding to medical math
In addition to showcasing their skills, career tech competitors say they also enjoy the chance to meet students from other schools and career tech programs. It also promotes a sense of pride and camaraderie among classmates.
“You get to help your career tech (program) get recognized,” Orth said.
The full list of Madison students who have qualified for state or national competition can be found below.
State qualifiers (FCCLA)
- Gia DiPuccio-Resendiz and Emmalee McDaniel, silver rating in interpersonal communications at regionals.
- Alexis Hairston, silver rating in a job interview at regionals.
- Bri Coulter, silver rating in early childhood education, regionals.
- Liv Price and Jae Turner, gold rating in professional presentation, regionals.
State qualifiers (SkillsUSA)
- Libby Bekeleski, first place in medical math at regionals.
- MaRhea Smith, first place in a job skills demonstration at regionals.
- Mia Orth, second place in customer service at regionals.
- Knight Wolfe, second place in CNC 2-Axis at regionals.
- Micah Clark, Bryce Speelman, Randy Jamieson and Collin Snyder, second place in Teamworks at regionals.
- Elle Schwartz, third place in medical math at regionals.
- Preston Coffman, third place in welding at regionals.
- Will Saunders, fourth place in maintenance & light repair at regionals.
- Owen Morrow, fourth place in carpentry at regionals.
- Chase Hunsinger, fourth place in CNC 3-Axis at regionals.
- Chris Manley, fourth place in related technical math at regionals.
National qualifiers (BPA)
- Alaina Washington, state champion in fundamental word processing.
- Olivia Penrod, Aubrey Conn, Jamelyn Mays, and AJ Studer, state champion in administrative support team.
- Nick Maglott, third place at state in payroll accounting.
- Kylie Carroll, eighth place at state health administration procedures.