About 100 parents and students attended Saturday’s award ceremony for the high school Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Workforce competition.
On Thursday and Friday, students from across Columbia County competed in various job skills, from automotive, to agricultural and law enforcement at facilities at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department Appling headquarters.
“It gives them a good ability to compare their skills with their peers from other schools,” said Mike Daversa, a retired Army major who teaches Junior ROTC classes at Evans High School and one of the event organizers.
Over a two-day period, Lakeside High School senior Nika Shekastehband, 18, had two great wins. She won the competition’s job interview category – the only single-person competition in the event. And she got an interview with Mercer University, one of the medical schools she would like to attend. For undergraduate studies, she hopes to attend John Hopkins University in Baltimore.
In both interviews, she said, “The first thing I make sure to do is just be myself.”
The winning students and winning high schools were:
Job interview skills – Nika Shekastehband, 18, a Lakeside High School senior.
Marketing – Evans and Lakeside high schools.
High-risk traffic stop – Harlem High School.
Tactical search warrant – Harlem High School.
Crime scene investigation – Greenbrier High School.
Health science terminology – Lakeside High School.
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and first aid – Harlem High School.
Tractor driving – Harlem High School.
Lawnmower driving – Harlem High School.
Engineering (bridge building and making a spring-powered car) – Harlem High School.
Junior ROTC (Reserves Officers’ Training Corps) – Greenbrier and Lakeside high schools. Adelyn Swogger, a freshman at Greenbrier High School, won the junior cadet category and Sydney Hughes, a Lakeside High School senior, won the senior cadet competition.
Teaching – Greenbrier High School.
Marketing – Lakeside and Evans high schools.
Welding – Grovetown High School students Will Davis, Cayson Davis, Ethan Dent, Ryan Faglier and JT Lowery.
Auto repair – Harlem High School took the overall award with teams from Evans and Grovetown high schools winning in certain age categories. The winning students were Evans High’s Hunter Perkins, Grovetown High’s Elijah Norris and Harlem High’s Andrew Lowe and Josh Conner.
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
