Tennessee Student Honored at Annual SkillsUSA Workforce Development Event

A career and technical student in Tennessee won one of the nation's highest awards at the 2024 SkillsUSA Championships, held in Atlanta, on June 26-27. More than 6,000 students competed at the national showcase of career and technical education. The SkillsUSA Championships is the largest skill competition in the world and covers 1.79 million square feet, equivalent to 31 football fields or 41 acres.

Students were invited to the event to demonstrate their technical skills, workplace skills and personal skills in 115 hands-on competitions including robotics, automotive technology, drafting, criminal justice, aviation maintenance and public speaking. Industry leaders from 850 businesses, corporations, trade associations and unions planned and evaluated the contestants against their standards for entry-level workers. Industry support of the SkillsUSA Championships is valued at over $36 million in donated time, equipment, cash and material. More than 1,200 industry judges and technical committee members participated this year.

A total of 1,250 gold, silver and bronze medals were presented to students on Friday night, June 28 at the SkillsUSA Awards Session. Many winners also received industry prizes, tools of their trade or scholarships. The medalists also received a Skill Point Certificate representing workplace readiness in the student's occupational specialty. Students can add the certificate to an employment portfolio. As an indicator of proficiency, Skill Point Certificates were awarded to all national contestants who medaled or who met a threshold contest score for their event.

The following student received a SkillsUSA Championships medal and Skill Point Certificate:

* Ashlyn Carroll, from Summertown and a student at Tennessee College of Applied Tech-Hohenwald (Hohenwald), was awarded the college bronze medal in Electronics Technology.

"More than 6,000 students from every state in the nation participated in the 2024 SkillsUSA Championships," said SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis. "This showcase of career and technical education demonstrates SkillsUSA at its finest. Our students, instructors and industry partners work together to ensure that every student excels. This program expands learning and career opportunities for our members."

The SkillsUSA Championships event is held annually for students in middle school, high school or college/postsecondary programs as part of the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. The national, nonprofit partnership of students, instructors and industry is a verified talent pipeline for America's skilled workforce that is working to help solve the skills gap.

SkillsUSA is America's proud champion of the skilled trades. It's a student-led partnership of education and industry that's building the skilled workforce our nation depends on with graduates who are career ready, day one. Representing nearly 380,000 career and technical education students and teachers, SkillsUSA chapters thrive in middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions nationwide. SkillsUSA's mission empowers students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. That mission is accomplished through the SkillsUSA Framework of Personal Skills, Workplace Skills and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics, which is integrated into the classroom curriculum. Through Framework instruction, students develop the character-shaping leadership skills - teamwork, communication, professionalism and more - that successful careers and lives demand. At the same time, students hone their high-level technical skills against current industry standards in more than 130 skilled trade areas, from 3-D Animation to Welding. The result? Focused, confident and highly skilled graduates who are ready to work, ready to lead and ready to make a difference in our schools, workplaces and communities. A vital solution to the skills gap, where more in-demand skilled trades positions are available than qualified professionals to fill them, SkillsUSA has served over 14 million difference-making members since 1965. To learn more, visit http://www.SkillsUSA.org.