FSCC to send five state competition gold medalists to SkillsUSA Nationals.
FSCC to send five state competition gold medalists to SkillsUSA Nationals.
Fort Scott, KS- Fort Scott Community College competed in five of the Kansas SkillsUSA competitions held during the month of April. FSCC brought home a gold medal in each of these competitions: College Carpentry; High School Carpentry; College Extemporaneous Speaking; High School Masonry; and College Motorcycle Service Technician.
Carpentry:
Matt Volmer of Parsons, Kansas took home first place in the Kansas College Carpentry Competition and has a chance to be named the top college carpenter in the country. FSCC swept the college division with Tyler Cares of Dennis, Kansas taking second place and Jacob Saye of Cherryvale, Kansas taking third place.
Kim Coates, FSCC Carpentry Instructor, said, “We’re really strong in the college division and it showed this weekend.”
FSCC’s dominance continued in the high school division with Adrian Harness of Pittsburg, Kansas winning fist place in carpentry and earning a chance to be named the top high school carpenter in the country. FSCC’s William Johns also won third place in the high school division. Both Harness and Johns are concurrently enrolled in carpentry courses at Fort Scott Community College.
Extemporaneous Speaking:
James Oelschlager of Crete Nebraska won first place in the SkillsUSA State Competition for Extemporaneous Speaking held on the campus of Wichita Area Technical College. Oelschlager is also eligible to attend the National Competition held in Louisville.
Masonry:
Mack O’Dell from Pittsburg High School won 1st place in the SkillsUSA Masonry Competition and a chance to be named the top high school mason in the country. Ricky Sanchez took second place and Daniel Cassteljos took third. Sanchez and Cassteljos also attend Pittsburg High School. All three winners are concurrently enrolled in masonry courses at Fort Scott Community College.
Motorcycle Service Technician:
John Graber of Belle Plaine, Kansas took home first place and has a chance to continue a FSCC tradition and be named the top college motorcycle service technician in the country. James Sokol of Martinsville, Indiana took second place and James Oelschlager of Crete, Nebraska took third place.
Dwayne Hale, Director of the Harley-Davidson program, said, “Our motorcycle technician program is unique to Kansas, but determining which of our students will represent the state is very important because of the national competition.”
High School:
FSCC’s high school winners are concurrently enrolled in college courses. All of these students directly benefited from Kansas’ ongoing initiative (SB 155) to offer tuition, transportation assistance and other incentives.
Nationals:
All first place winners are eligible to attend the Skills USA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The national participants will have chance to win tools, a Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob Motorcycle and scholarships through the mikeroweWORKS Foundation.
SkillsUSA.org writes, “SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.”
Potential students interested in learning more about SkillsUSA, carpentry, masonry, the Harley-Davidson technician program or other vocational programs at Fort Scott Community College should contact Judy Meister at 620-223-2700, ext. 247.
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