District 230 students excel at Skills competition

Students from Consolidated High School District 230 recently competed at the statewide SkillsUSA Championships, participating in career competitions demonstrating their workforce readiness skills in manufacturing, transportation, construction, hospitality, human services and more.

The SkillsUSA Illinois Championships bring together more than 2,000 outstanding career and technical education students who compete hands-on in 100 different trade, technical and leadership fields.

After completing state qualifying exams, students from both Andrew, Stagg and Sandburg High Schools had the opportunity to compete at the state level.

In total, four District 230 students were crowned state champions and will have an opportunity to advance to compete in the national SkillsUSA Championships this June in Atlanta.

Andrew students competed in six event categories and took home one gold, one silver medal and two bronze medals.

State Champion

• Junior Ahmad Almasri placed 1st Gold Medal in Culinary Arts, where competitors create menus to demonstrate required fundamental cooking techniques using items from a common pantry.

2nd Place

• Sophomore Abigail LaPlant placed 2nd and earned a Silver Medal in Early Childhood Education for her demonstrated lesson plan, storytelling and interview.

3rd Place

• The two-person team of sophomores Abigail LaPlant and Lexie Hattar took 3rd Place and earned Bronze Medals in the Preschool Interactive Display category, which entailed an interactive bulletin board that was developmentally appropriate for three to five-year-olds.
• Junior Kinsey Shoemaker earned a 3rd Place Bronze Medal in Fashion Design, which required contestants to design, cut patterns and construct material into a finished product.

Stagg students competed in four event categories and took home one gold, one silver medal and one bronze medal.

State Champion

• Junior Ava Deyoung won state for Job Skill Demonstration, where she applied her teaching knowledge and presented on storytelling.

2nd Place

• Junior Alejandra Garcia placed 2nd and received a Silver Medal for her presentation on making accommodations while teaching for special needs students.

3rd Place

• In Early Childhood Education, juniors Ava Deyoung (3rd place Bronze Medal) and Alejandra Garcia, along with freshmen Adam Glockler, Amilia Szwajnos and Emily Baugh demonstrated lesson plans, storytelling and interviews.
• Sophomore Naty Mendoza Acosta competed in the Baking & Pastry Arts with four hours to produce five recipes, including pastries and breads in an industrial kitchen setting.

Sandburg students competed in 12 events and took home two gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals.

State Champions

• Junior Zoey Huff - Gold Medal in Fashion Design, requiring contestants to design, cut patterns and construct material into the finished product.
• Senior Alicia Ramos - Gold Medal in Interior Room Design. This category entailed designing a room to accommodate individual needs, interests and tastes within a limited budget.

2nd Place

• Junior Nathan Estabaya - Silver Medal in Technical CAD, focusing on the solution of industry-developed problems by applying appropriate technical drafting skills and tools including computer-aided drafting
• Junior Bryanna Tuscher - Silver Medal in Fashion Design, requiring contestants to design, cut patterns and construct material into the finished product.

3rd Place

• Junior Jacob Sexton - Bronze Medal in Architectural CAD, where competitors use their drafting skills to solve an architectural problem.
• Junior Elizabeth Wazio - Bronze Medal in Interior Room Design This category entailed designing a room to accommodate individual needs, interests and tastes within a limited budget.