Gilmer SkillsUSA students compete at regional and state

Achieving mastery of an art is worth celebrating. 

For Gilmer students in Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE), regional and state SkillsUSA competitions highlight their finely-honed skills.

“For the students themselves, it gives them an opportunity not just to compete but to grow,” Gilmer High School (GHS) teacher Keith Kucera said.

SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization designed to prepare students for careers in the trades and in skilled service occupations.

GHS students got to participate in its local competition Friday, Dec. 5, and its state competition ran from Thursday, Feb. 19, to Saturday, Feb. 21.

“There’s a little bit of stress there, but you watch them branch out on their own,” he said.

Students put their skills on display with wooden cabinet building skills, firefighting skills, crime scene investigation skills, extemporaneous speaking, automotive electronics and ignition expertise, sports hype video production and customer service skills

“They’re going from sunup to sundown and then some,” Kucera said of the events.

Students at the event included Jacob Corum, Clifford DeFoor, Clint Carver, Cole Bolinger, Aidan St. John, Ryley Fields, Jesse McElreath, Kyler DeBoard, Sean Plumley, Alivia Richards, Brianna Lopez, Susana Tercero, Ashley Guzman and Elizabeth Kucera.

To enroll in the competition, students must be enrolled in a CTAE class. They also had to raise money for fees and travel costs. Community support also helped make the event possible.

“This year, we got an unbelievable outcry for support from the community. We certainly hope that continue because that’s going to develop our future,” Kucera said.

The competition included more than 3,000 competitors from across Georgia.

So far, SkillsUSA hasn’t yet given placements to student participants.

But even before finding out the results, the event was extremely meaningful.

“It gives them an opportunity to grow as professionals, as leaders and as individuals,” Kucera said. “They definitely enjoy every minute of it.”