Skills USA students from Bohlen pose with banner

Over fifty Jefferson County high school students from the Charles H. Bohlen, Jr. Technical Center competed in the New York State SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Championships held April 24-26, 2019 in Syracuse.  Of those, ten students medaled in a total of 7 categories. 

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It is a national membership organization serving middle-school, high-school and college/post-secondary students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.  Chapters are located locally at both the Charles H. Bohlen, Jr. Technical Center in Watertown and at the Howard G. Sackett Technical Center in Glenfield.

Each year, Career & Technical Education students from across New York State gather to compete against each other in various events involving trade skills, ranging from carpentry to computers. Often times, these are skills that employers are looking for when hiring. The judges in many of these competitions are those who work in that specific field or trade. 

Winning first place gold medals this year were Brooke Dorazio (Visual Communications II) of South Jefferson in the Pin Design Competition; Hailley Hawk (Veterinary Practices) of Carthage in the Animal Careers competition; Cassie Johnson (Cosmetology II) of South Jefferson, Hollace Stevens (Cosmetology II) of Belleville Henderson, Kaitlynn Stevens (Cosmetology II) of Watertown and Makayla Fiorentino (Cosmetology II) of Watertown in the Cosmetology Quiz Bowl team competition.  

Of the first place winners, Brooke Dorazio will attend and represent New York State at the SkillsUSA National Championships during the last week of June in Louisville, KY.  The other first place finishes were in competitions that are not offered at the Nationals. 

Wining second place silver medals this year were Manuel Garcia (Culinary Arts-Baking) of Watertown in the Cake Decorating competition; Kylie Russell (Culinary Arts-Baking) of Watertown in the Commercial Baking competition; and Loren Recore (HVAC/Plumbing) of Alexandria Central in the Hydronic Heating competition.

Winning a third place bronze medal was Valeria Muniz-Arocho (Cosmetology II) of Watertown in the Job Demonstration A competition.