The Georgia Postsecondary SkillsUSA Chapter held its annual SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta Georgia March 17-18, 2016. Ten members of the Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) SkillsUSA club placed with five bronze medalists, four silver medalists, and one gold medalist.
Bringing home a gold medal was James Potts (Electrical Construction). Cheryl Cerfus (Drafting), Rodney Virgil (Automotive), Victor Canas (Automotive Collision), and Josh Jackson (Individual Welding) earned silver medal honors, while Ashley Beach (Esthetics), Caleb Parker (Welding Fab Team), Brandon Butler (Welding Fab Team) Cory Miller (Welding Fab Team), Daniel Douma (Welding Fab Team) and Vincent Ramos (Technical Drafting) earned bronze medals in their respective categories.
As a gold medal winner James Potts will have the opportunity to represent the College at the 52nd National Leadership and Skills Conference held from June 20-24, 2016 in Louisville, KY.
“We are extremely proud of each student that competed in the SkillsUSA Georgia Championships. The success of our students at this event is further confirmation that technical and career education remains vitally important not only to our community, but to the development of our state’s workforce,” said Dr. Craig Wentworth, SRTC President. “We wish Mr. Potts the best of luck as he travels to Louisville to represent our college in the national competition.”
Additionally, Susan Musgrove was elected to serve a one year term as an officer on the state-wide SkillsUSA executive leadership team. Being a state officer is one of the highest honors a student can achieve in SkillsUSA.
SkillsUSA is a national non-profit organization of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills such as communication, problem solving, and leadership in conjunction with their trade, technical, and service occupations skills.
“We could not be more pleased with the performance of all of our welding participants. During the competition they were required built a fire pit according to a blueprint provided to them on site. Their completed project was judged by certified welding inspectors on blueprint interpretation, torch cutting, weld size, and weld location for several welding processes including SMAW, GMAW, and GTAW. To place in the top three as a first-time participant speaks volumes in regard to the ability of these young men. SRTC was also the only college to have a fabrication team and an individual competitor place in their respective events,” commented SRTC Welding Instructor Brandon Reed.
“I am incredibly proud of each and every one of our competitors. All of this year’s participants were state competition ‘rookies,’ and to have so many of them medal on their first attempt is a wonderful honor and testament to the training and education we are able to provide at SRTC. I hope more of our student population will see their success and join SkillsUSA as it is our hope to take twice as many students next year. SkillsUSA is open to all SRTC students and is about much more than just competing. Our students learn about leadership, civic responsibility, and sportsmanship. I have been involved with SkillsUSA for more than a decade and am continually amazed by the development of the organization,” said Tammy Barnes, SRTC Skills USA Advisor.
SRTC offers over 155 degree, diploma, and certificate programs that are designed to get you quickly into your desired career, and 27 general education courses that transfer to the University System of Georgia institutions and 19 private colleges and universities in Georgia. SRTC has instructional sites located in Ashburn, Cairo, Camilla, Moultrie, Thomasville, Tifton, and Sylvester for the convenience of our students. The College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). SACSCOC is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. For the most up-to-date information on registration, class dates, and program offerings, log on to www.southernregional.edu or call (888) 205 – 3449.
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