Cherokee Students Earn Top Honors At Skills USA Competition

CANTON, GA -- Cherokee County School District Career Pathway students earned top honors in the state’s Skills USA competition testing their career knowledge and abilities.

Students from various programs at Cherokee High School and Sequoyah High School competed in the skilled trades and leadership events, with three winning gold medals, two earning silver and four achieving bronze.

Cherokee’s team competed in: Welding Sculpture, Collision Repair, Flight operations, T-Shirt Design, Extemporaneous Speaking, Medical Assistant and Nurse Assisting, and the chapter earned the bronze award overall.

Austin Ledbetter won gold in Collision Repair, earning thousands of dollars in scholarships and tools and advancing to Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky In June.

The school’s Healthcare Pathways program competed in hands-on contests for the first time this year. In Medical Assisting, DeAnna Dobeis won gold, and Anna Townsend attained bronze; and in Nurse Assisting, Bella Lindeborg won gold, and Bella McKeehan won silver. Both gold winners also advance to Nationals.

The school’s Air Force JROTC team also competed in Flight Operations, and the team of Jack Edmondson, Stephen Kaiser and Jackson King earned bronze.

Transportation teacher Mike Hagan serves as Cherokee’s Skills USA chair.

Two Sequoyah High School students from its Career Pathway programs competed and placed at State.

Jacob Allred placed second in Power Equipment Technology -- his third consecutive year to place in the top three.

Jeremiah Rampley competed in the Heating Air Conditioning Ventilation and Refrigeration contest and earned fifth place.

Transportation teacher Charles Wilson serves as Sequoyah’s Skills USA chair.

“They could not have accomplished this success without their fellow students helping them and advisors and coaches showing them the way -- not to mention financial support from business partners like Shottenkirk Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram,” Hagan said, who also serves as the region chairman for Skills USA. “They are truly the most skilled in their field and will represent Georgia and Cherokee with pride.”