GADSDEN, AL — Students from Gadsden State Community College earned a combined 15 medals during the recent Alabama SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and SkillsUSA Championships held in Birmingham, bringing home two gold medals, five silver medals and eight bronze medals.
The annual SkillsUSA event provides high school and college students an opportunity to demonstrate technical skills, leadership abilities and hands-on training through a variety of competitive events. This year’s theme was “Champion Your Future.”
Students from Gadsden State’s Ayers, East Broad and Valley Street campuses competed in more than 85 contest categories, including industrial motor control, HVACR, robotics and automation technology, electrical construction wiring, technical drafting, cosmetology and additive manufacturing.
“Gadsden State is proud to partner with SkillsUSA in helping meet Alabama’s growing workforce needs by preparing and placing highly skilled Alabamians into meaningful careers,” said Andy Robertson, dean of Workforce Development at Gadsden State. “By combining technical skills training, leadership development, employability preparation and hands-on learning experiences rooted in citizenship and service, SkillsUSA and Gadsden State’s career technical education programs equip students with the tools they need to become world-class employees, leaders and active contributors within their communities.”
Gold medals were awarded to Dalton Chandler in Electrical Construction Wiring and Lucas Wilson in Industrial Motor Controls. As first-place finishers, both students will represent Gadsden State at the 61st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference scheduled for June 1-5 in Atlanta.
Silver medal recipients included Philip Carter in Technical Drafting; John Allen Mooneyham in HVAC; Tristan Page in Extemporaneous Speaking; the team of Cayson Hardy and Bryce Anderson in Robotics and Automation Technology; and the team of Alejandra Franco and Jordan Matheney in Additive Manufacturing Technology.
Bronze medals were earned by Kyle Chandler in Electrical Construction Wiring; Joshua Allen in Industrial Motor Controls; Anelisse Garcia in Cosmetology; Kameron Kuykendoll in Technical Drafting; Franklin Bishop in HVAC; Matthew Usry in 5-Axis Milling; William Andru Houser in 2-Axis Turning; and the team of Braxton Bussie and Zachary Blaum in Robotics and Automation Technology.
In addition to the competition results, Tristan Brown of Gadsden State was elected Alabama SkillsUSA State President for the college division. State officers are selected by their peers during the conference and serve as representatives of Alabama SkillsUSA membership.
Program advisors supporting participating students included Daniel Anderson, Matt Maini, Keith Tolbert, Dwayne Pruitt, Laura Sullins, Valeria Hill, Kristina Puckett, Hollie Bonds, James Wilson, Peyton Amberson, Wes Beecham, Todd Chandler and Tim Harrison.
“We are extremely proud of the dedicated and highly skilled technical instructors across our campuses,” Robertson said. “Their commitment to student success helps prepare students with the knowledge, confidence and hands-on experience needed to compete in these events, earn a degree or certificate, and successfully transition into today’s workforce.”
SkillsUSA is a national workforce development organization serving more than 444,000 students and instructors. The organization focuses on developing skilled workers, leaders and responsible citizens through career and technical education programs.
For more information about Gadsden State’s technical programs, visit GadsdenState.edu/Technical.
