51 Students take on SkillsUSA Nationals
Fort Scott, Ks.—51 Construction Trades and Masonry students head out to Louisville, Ky. to compete in the 54th annual SkillsUSA National competition held on June 25th-29th. Students who placed first at the state level competition earned the chance to take on nationals. 51 took 13 carpentry students, 3 HVAC students, and 3 masonry students to state and 4 students came out on top; Alex Garcia and Coltin Oehme for masonry, Dylan Giager and Wil Jameson for carpentry.
51 sophomore Siarra Clark, who came in second at state, but only by a couple points, says “I was raised around concrete and construction so the program at 51 was fitting. The competition was a great experience and I hope to compete in something like this in the future.” Siarra took 1st in the hands-on portion of the state competition and 2nd in the written portion, making it 2nd overall.
Pittsburg High School (PHS) senior and now 51 certified mason Coltin Oehme came in 1st overall at the state level, so he will go on to compete at nationals. Oehme not only came in 1st, but was the first one done even with making multiple corrections. “If the design isn’t correct and perfect, it’s an automatic loss” says Oehme. 51 Masonry instructor, Nacoma Oehme, Coltin’s cousin, says “Coltin did great at state and we’re looking forward to see what he does at nationals…he takes a lot of pride in his work, especially since it’s in the family. We come from a long line of masons. Coltin inspires others to look into masonry as a career choice.”
51 carpentry students Dylan Giager (51) and Wil Jameson (PHS) will compete on the carpentry side of SkillsUSA. This is 51 carpentry’s 7th year to nationals under the supervision of instructor Kim Coates. “You never know who is going to bring who” says Coates, “Wil Jameson is the first high school sophomore to win gold and go to nationals…I was surprised and very excited.” Brady Newman, 51 student barely came in 2nd behind Dylan Giager by only 2%, winning him a silver medal. Right behind him was Thomas Mayfield with a bronze medal.