Raeha Jensen, a soon-tobe senior at Harvard Public School, was the first student at HPS to attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, after placing first in Medical Assisting at the state meet in April.
Traveling with her to nationals in Atlanta, GA, were sponsors Blake Barwick and Jodi Bahr. The trio shared information and stories about nationals with the Harvard School Board Aug. 11.
During their trip, Jensen competed in Medical Assisting, earning a perfect score in Administrative Skill area; earning 90 percent in the Laboratory Skill area; and placing 10th overall.
She competed against students who already had their medical assisting certification in their respective states.
While Jensen competed, Barwick and Bahr took advantage of the sessions available to learn how to better their local chapter.
Bahr attended “Building a Framework Classroom Culture,”where she picked up strategies for positive learning environments, and classroom mangagement techniques.
She also attended “Get Them Moving: Activities for Chapter Kick-off,” which included interactive engagement methods and dynamic chapter initiation activities.
Barwick attended “The Manufacturing Skills Standards Council,” which covered innovative approaches and how to integrate industry-relevant skills and certifications into the curriculum.
Barwick said he not only learned items for the SkillsUSA Chapter, but also things he can take back to the classroom.
In “Industrial Robotics: Preparing Students for the Future of Work,” Barwick learned about the role of industrial robotics in modern industry; how to engage students with hands-on training; and about Credentialing and real-world applications.
Additionally, he attended “AI Literacy and Student Employability,” which covered what current students should focus on developing to maximize their employability in an AI world.
Jensen also spoke about implementing a punch card system for their chapter, specifically for attending meetings, to see who’s truly interested in SkillsUSA and wants to learn, rather than just get out of school.
In between sessions and competitions, the trio worked together with others to make more than 80 bikes for disadvantaged kids in the area; met with other chapters; and earned certificates for their participation.
Bahr also highlighted how Jensen became more outgoing as the week went on, noting how when they first arrived, Jensen was always by their side, but by the end of the week, she was going off on her own to explore.
“It was cool to see her confidence grow over the week,” Bahr said.
More than 400,000 students from across the country attended SkillsUSA Nationals.
OTHER BUSINESS
Superintendent Michael Derr briefly spoke about co-op football for the 2026-27 school year.
He said so far, everyone on the Harvard and Giltner School Boards are in agreement to move forward with this; everything has to be approved by Nov. 1.
Currently, Harvard is sixman and Giltner is eight-man, with each team (so far) having 10-12 kids out for this season.
School Board members unanimously approved the resignation of Stacey Hofaker, who’s husband took a job in Holdrege, to go into effect at the conclusion of the 2025-26 school year.
