Events
Students Excel at SkillsUSA State Competition
Students Qualify to Compete at Nationals for Third Straight Year
RALEIGH, N.C. (April 30, 2024) – Wake Tech Career and Technical Education students excelled at the 2024 SkillsUSA North Carolina State Leadership & Skills Conference in Greensboro, bringing home an impressive 25 awards, including four first-place honors.
Two students – Cheval Batts (Advertising Design) and Hasten Goins (Architectural Drafting) qualified to compete at the national SkillsUSA competition June 24-28 in Atlanta. This the third straight year that Wake Tech students have qualified for nationals!
In all, 73 Wake Tech students from the Building Engineering & Skilled Technologies, Business & Professional Services Technologies, Information Technology, Transportation Technologies and Workforce Continuing Education divisions competed in a variety of categories. There were several new competitions, including Advertising Design, Adobe Visual Design, Welding Fabrication, Welding Sculpture, Electrical Construction Wiring and HVAC.
Wake Tech also took home a first-place award for Largest Individual Membership Growth Chapter-Postsecondary (college/university level).
Seventy-five high school students from Vernon Malone College and Career Academy (VMCCA), a Cooperative Innovative High School partnership between Wake Tech and the Wake County Public School System, also competed and received 26 awards. Eight students in four competitions (Entrepreneurship, Interactive Application & Video Game Creation, Nurse Assisting and Welding) qualified to compete in the national competition.
"We had more students compete at this year's conference than ever before, and we are really proud of all of them," said Albert Brewer Jr., dean of the Engineering & Trades Division. "The added competitions give more students at both the high school and college level a chance to demonstrate skills they will eventually take to the workforce."
Wake Tech results:
Advertising Design
- Cheval Batts, first place
- Rocio Quirino-Alvarez, second place
Adobe Visual Design (state only competition)
- Camryn Jamison, first place
Architectural Drafting
- Hasten Goins, first place
- Alfonso Mercado, second place
- Mia Grotevant, third place
- Jimmy Chavez-Perez, fourth place
- Glenn MacCormick, fifth place
Automotive Tool ID (state only competition)
- Cael Fauceglia, fourth place
- Noah Howard, fifth place
CNC 3-Axis Milling Specialist
- Ethan Hulstedt, third place
- Gavin Royce, fourth place
Collision Damage Appraisal
- Travis Williams, third place
- Crystal Pena, fourth place
Collision Repair Technology
- Dujon Franz, fifth place
Cosmetology
- Bianca Martinez Torres, third place
- Heidy Useche Borrero, fifth place
Electronics Technology
- Garrett Skaar, third place
Esthetics
- Kaiya Bunting, fifth place
Job Skill Demonstration
- Gregory Czika, second place
Mechatronics
- Alexander Barile and Taylor Schoentrup, second place
Skill Project Showcase: Cosmetology (state only competition)
- Yasmine Munoz Solis and Maria Suarez, second place
- Ezra Marryle Nunag, third place
- Zarya James, fifth place
VMCCA results:
Collision Repair Technology
- Desmond Sanders, second place
- Anastasiya Kravets, fourth place
Cosmetology Beginner Skills
- Jennifer Marin, second place
- Daniela Morales, fourth place
Cosmetology Fantasy Hair & Makeup
- Natalie Mauricio, first place
Cosmetology Hair Color
- Samiya Cohen, third place
Cosmetology Natural Hair Design and Braids
- Nicole Jackson, third place
- Vale Rojas-Ayala, fifth place
Cosmetology
- Christelle Espinosa, second place
- Samantha Medina-Mead, third place
Cosmetology Skill Project Showcase
- Kimberly Patricio and Morgan Scott, first place
Heating, Ventilation, AC & Refrigeration
- Tyler Alston, fifth place
Electrical Construction Wiring I
- June Strickland, third place
Entrepreneurship
- Kameron Coleman, Jayden Lamb, Samuel Ndianefo and Kyra Stringfield, first place
First Aid-CPR
- Gabriel Eligio, fourth place
Interactive Application and Video Game Creation
- Janelle Anokye and Sofia Craft, first place
- Madison Stokes and Shaniah Taylor, second place
Medical Terminology
- Brianna Pippen, second place
- Makayla Jones, fifth place
Nurse Assisting
- Keony Sagrero, first place
- Terri Smith, second place
- Vaibhavi Shanker, third place
- Madelyn Portillo, fifth place
Welding
- Kaden Quinn, first place
Welding Fabrication
- Kenan Batchelor, Abraham Glenn and Chase Hampton, fifth place
Welding Skill Project Showcase
- Damion Spooner, third place
