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March 16, 2022Hundreds of Area High School Students Compete in Regional Workplace Skills Competition
Nearly 300 high school students from the Capital Region, North Country, Hudson Valley and beyond will be at Stratton Air National Guard Base on March 16 to test their skills in everything from automotive to heating equipment repair and nursing as part of the annual SkillsUSA competition.
Just down the road at SUNY Schenectady County Community College, high school students from the same regions will be competing all day on Wednesday against their peers in culinary, computers and other technical and middle skills also as part of the regional SkillsUSA competition.
Students from virtually every Capital Region high school will be taking part in the events at both locations, hoping to advance to represent their region at the New York State SkillsUSA competition in late-April.
“This is an important competition as it reinforces the value of these skills and these jobs with the students while allowing them to interact with their peers with similar interests,” said Shelette Pleat, principal of Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School, Albany Campus. “According to our business partners, the need for students to have these skills and to prepare to fill the middle skills jobs gap has never been greater.”
Students competing say they look forward to challenging themselves and networking.
“SkillsUSA is a good opportunity to see where I am at and how well I can do the skills I need to know,” sad Nate Bartlett, a senior from Cobleskill-Richmondville competing in the Heavy Equipment competition.
“I am super excited about competing because I get to challenge myself and learn a bunch of new skills,” added Elaina McGrath, a junior in the cosmetology program from Bethlehem.
Winners of the competition can advance onto the state SkillsUSA competition in April and, from there, the national event in June.
In the past, Capital Region BOCES has fielded a number of state and national champions, as well as prepared competitors for the national stage.
Take for example Saratoga Chef Michelle Hunter who won the Food Network TV series Chopped in 2020.
“I did a lot of competitions in BOCES for SkillsUSA and I did a few after that and the all taught me to prepare and over plan to make sure the timing was right,” said Hunter, a 2007 BOCES graduate.
SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school and students. The organization promotes personal and professional growth and offers students the opportunity to compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. The organization also promotes giving back to the community, which locally results in collections each year for food pantries and city missions.
