Cooking, building, brainstorming, filming, testing, and much more are being done in the Harvard SkillsUSA chapter as they look to be even more successful going into their third year of competitions at the state conference on April 9 and 10 at the Grand Island Fairgrounds.
For the first two years of SkillsUSA, Harvard’s main goal was to learn what it was to learn the ropes and build a strong chapter. Between both years, Harvard earned six medals at the state conference and sent one student, Raeha Jensen (12), to the national conference. Thirty-four students are now part of SkillsUSA, with 20 first-year students.
“I am excited to see such a large number of our student population be involved in SkillsUSA,” SkillsUSA coach Blake Barwick said. “With such a large number of students and contests being worked on, I am looking forward to seeing some spark and success.”
The students will attend the first day of the conference, when the state officers will outline what the entire weekend will look like. There will then be a few competitions that night and a delegate meeting, where the delegates will vote on state officers and other various topics. The Harvard delegates are Jensen, Guadalupe Gabriel-Gomez (12), Cohen Reutzel (12), and Zoe Smith (12).
The chapter will be spending the night in a hotel, so they can get up to compete the very next morning. These competitions will continue throughout the day, with a social held in the evening. An awards ceremony will then take place on Saturday morning of Apr.
12.
“We prepare our students by splitting them up between us sponsors based on our skills and expertise,” Barwick said.
“We then help the students learn the technical and workplace skills.”
Jensen is a second-year student who competes in Medical Assisting. To prepare for her competition, she is taking practice tests, going over her medical skills, and getting CPR certified.
“My goals for this year are to feel good at the competition and help other students get prepared for their competitions,” Jensen said.
Mikayla Kenton (9), a firstyear member, plans on competing in Cosmetology because that is the field of work she plans on joining when she graduates. To prepare for the competitions, she practices the hairstyle she will do at the competition.
“I joined SkillsUSA to see what it was,” Kenton said.
“My goal is to place at the state competition.”
Now in the third year, the Harvard SkillsUSA chapter will have its eyes set high and continue to strive to build its program.
“We already met our main goal: increase chapter membership,” Barwick said. “Now we will work to keep the same level of success we’ve had in past years, and we want everyone to have a positive experience.”
