IRMO – The Center for Advanced Technical Studies (The Center) took 31 student competitors to Atlanta, Georgia from June 24-29, 2024, to compete across 15 different competitions spanning 6 career clusters at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.
They joined over 17,750 people from across the country, including over 1,100 business and industry partners, to compete, perform community service, provide and gain from professional development opportunities, and network with potential employers. The students worked extremely hard leading up to this amazing event and 11 of them finished Top 15 in the country, 5 of which finished in the Top 10 and a team of 3 placed third in the country.
National Placers
3rd Place: Occupational Health & Safety-Single-Caleb Anderson, Tristan Strother, Zymeria Taylor
Top 10 Finishers
7th Place: Criminal Justice-Ashland Davin
4th Place: Internet of Things –Smart Home- Kathryn Brophy
Top 15 Finishers
13th Place: CNC 3-Axis Milling Programmer- Anthony Cook
13th Place: Community Service- Alexia Bothers, Hannah Brown, Trilby Whitley
11th Place: Internetworking-Brayden Blackmon
13th Place: T-Shirt Design- Porter Floyd
This is the fourth year in a row that The Center has had students place top three at the National level. During that span, 14 students competing across 9 competitions have become national medalist, continuing a trend of excellence in skilled-related competitions.
“It has been another great year for our SkillsUSA chapter and our students,” Joseph Chapman, Chapter Lead Advisor said. “Each and every one of these students showed incredible work ethic, professionalism, and responsibility throughout their time preparing for and attending this conference. Every competition is difficult and pits the best of the best from every state. It is a testament to our incredible students and our incredible teachers to have repeated success at the national level. We are all very proud of the accomplishments of our students and look forward to another great year ahead.”
The Center also had nearly two dozen attendees participate in the Community Service Project provided which built bicycles for underprivileged youth in the Atlanta area. This was a great opportunity for students and chaperones to see the immediate impact for selfless service.
Additionally, two students, Arianna Shepherd and Avery Smith completed a comprehensive leadership development training course and participated in dozens of hours of delegate sessions, helping to decide the future of the SkillsUSA organization.
