Augusta Technical College has announced the recent winnings of its SkillsUSA Georgia Postsecondary contestants, students who attended the National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) in Atlanta from June 19 to June 24.
SkillsUSA is a vocational training organization for career and tech school students, partnering students and teachers with industry professionals to develop occupational skills. Each year it hosts the NLSC, a week-long conference that entails several skill competitions, including the.
Augusta Tech’s Postsecondary Team brought home 55 national medals: 12 bronze, 11 silver, and 32 gold. The Augusta Tech Cougars helped place Georgia as the seventh state with the most medals in the nation.
“The benefit is these young guys get to be in front of industry professionals, showing how talented they are,” said Sherrie Rowe, head of the Department of Design and Media Production Technology, and lead adviser for the Augusta Tech chapter of SkillsUSA. “Many of our students are hired right there on the spot, which is the ultimate goal… This can open all kinds of doors for them, which is the whole point. It’s not just to go and have a fun time, although they had a hilariously fun time.”
Jacob Golding won a gold medal for Outstanding T-Shirt Design, and was awarded the Dr. John Scott Award for accumulating the highest set of scores in the state of Georgia.
“I feel like I’m able to show what aspects of my design I’m proud of,” said Golding. “When I was making the shirt I had a lot of fun with it because I was just learning how to do it… When I was at nationals, I was elated to see people wearing my shirt around. I wanted to know what they liked about it, I wanted to know why they decided on it, out of the entire wardrobe that they built, to bring the nationwide interest, and that brings me a lot of joy because I spent hours designing it and people enjoy looking at it.”
Dennis Nelson had to pass through a gauntlet of tests assessing his knowledge of printing and graphic design to earn his silver medal for Graphic Communication. He said recognition from professionals helped inspire him further toward following a career that suits his artistic inclinations.
“Older adults, people who actually influenced me, congratulated me and complimented my work,” Nelson said. “That’s when I got the confidence to him pursue this type of field.”
Na’lexis Rowan admits to finding the testing portion a little stressful, but her enthusiasm for the creative aspects of the training and the competition outweighed any misgivings, as her efforts for digitally producing a design for tiles, signs and ornaments earned her a bronze medal for Graphic Imaging Modulation.
“That’s my favorite part,” said Rowan. “The design part.”
Trevon Alexander and Malcolm Hill learn about airspace regulations and get certifications as part of their intricate training to become ATC’s new Commercial Drone Team, which came in fourth place in the Commercial Drone Competition.
“My favorite part is, of course, learning how to fly,” said Hill. “But also learning about all the things you can do with drones, like farmers using them to map out their fields.”
Alexander, the spotter to Hill’s pilot on the drone team, echoed his teammate’s fascination with the wide range of uses for drone technology.
“It can also be used to survey the land, get a recon and use that information to figure out what you need to do,” said Alexander. “Farmers, construction workers, pretty much anybody can use drones commercially. It was interesting to learn.”
Other achievements of the ATC Cougars included Student Government Association President and design student Rashell Tanner placing seventh nationally in Advertising Design, and Justin McClellan winning a silver medal for Screen Printing.
Design student Jose Rodriguez is currently the Georgia Postsecondary State President, representing 22 postsecondary schools for SkillsUSA.
“If you are ambitious enough to go out and go get something, you will get it,” said Rodriguez. “But you will need help, and that’s why we have a team set up. You’re not doing it alone”
The accomplishments of ATC’s SkillsUSA student displays both their growth and diligence, he said, which has significant implications for those working toward being part of the community labor force.
“You’re learning what you are learning in school and SkillsUSA is helping you find a career in what you are doing,” he said. “It’ll help bring more job opportunities in the community. And if we have high school students see that, hey, I want to go into this and I saw someone who did this and go get a job here, then they’ll want to do it as well.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
