Savannah Tech’s Team Wins Awards for SkillsUSA Georgia Competition

#1274 | April 20, 2012

Early Childhood Education Student Wins Gold

SAVANNAH – A team from Savannah Technical College recently competed in a SkillsUSA Georgia competition in Atlanta, Ga. The STC team brought home a gold medal and three bronze medals.

     Students worked against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. Contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations, and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by industry.

      Yuolanda Carey, a STC Early Childhood Education student, won gold in the SkillsUSA Georgia competition. In addition to pursuing an associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Carey also serves as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves. She is currently the secretary for the student organization Liberty Campus Association for the Education of Young Children (LAEYC). After earning an associate degree this fall, she plans to continue her education to ultimately earn a master’s degree and become a middle school social studies teacher.

     Carey competed with six others who attend different technical colleges in Georgia.To win gold, she had the highest score in each of the four areas: interview, 50-question test, writing and presenting a lesson plan and on how well her presentation reading a book to the judges. She will represent Savannah Tech and the State of Georgia in the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Competition, in Kansas City, Mo., in June 2012.

      For the auto technology refinishing competition, there was a combination of hands-on demonstrations and 50-question written exams to test the students’ ability to estimate value of damage on and repair a vehicle. STC Automotive Collision Repair student Quentin Barnett prepared a metal fender for refinishing, mixed a unique color of paint, blended the paint onto the metal fender and applied a clear coat onto the entire panel to mask the vehicle. Upon graduation from STC, Barnett plans to own a body shop. He earned bronze in the automotive refinishing technology competition.

     Michael Velasco, a Sacramento, Calif., native, a military dependent and a first-year computer support specialist student at Savannah Tech earned a bronze medal in the computer maintenance technology competition. His tests were based on finding solutions to PC-related issues. The competition consisted of a written test, an oral interview and a 10-station, round-robin repair and fix work bench. Upon graduation, Velasco, plans to work in programming and animation.

     Marie Calleon won bronze in the nursing competition. She completed the written test and was interviewed. Then, she did the skills test, which consisted of foot and nail care; blood pressure, pulse and respiration; emptying a foley catheter, measured the output and provided peri care. She is excited about being in the LPN graduating class of 2013. Upon graduation, Calleon plans to go to RN school wherever she and her military husband are stationed.

     SkillsUSA Georgia is the Career and Technical Student Organization for students enrolled in Architecture, Construction, Communication and Transportation (ACCT), Cosmetology, and Public Safety Pathways in Georgia’s secondary schools.

     SkillsUSA is a national, nonprofit student organization that has developed more than 10 million workers through active partnerships between employers and educators. Hundreds of American industries have turned to SkillsUSA as the source for employees who exemplify “Champions at Work” in both skills and attitudes. SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. At the heart of this mission are SkillsUSA’s core values: integrity, responsibility, citizenship, service and respect.

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