The Islanders competed at the 2024 Nebraska State SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference in Grand Island earlier this month.
Grand Island Senior High had 44 students who competed in 30 different categories during the conference April 11-13, 2024. Some competition categories, such as Television production and Commercial sUAS Drone were new to the GISH chapter this year. The Islanders finished the competition with 19 medalists and 11 national qualifiers.
Students who are awarded first place also qualify for nationals in Atlanta June 24-28, 2024. The Islanders who qualified for the National Leadership & Skills Conference are Sydnee Davis and Theo Merchant. Sydnee placed first in Job Skill Demonstration, and Theo placed first in CNC 2 Axis Turning Programmer.
D.W. Holley, Academy of Technical Sciences principal at GISH and Career Pathways Institute, said the SkillsUSA participation this year was great, especially how students branched out into new areas of competition.
“I am really proud of our instructors in their preparation of our students and giving them an opportunity to try so many different competitions,” Holley said. “I’m also really proud of our students for being engaged and willing to put their skills to the test against others from all over the state.”
Congratulations, Islanders!
Nebraska State SkillsUSA award winners:
Sarah Wichman, First, Extemporaneous Speaking
Holdan Wemhoff, John Adams, Second, Additive Manufacturing
Ellie Pagel, Second, Architectural Drafting
Zoie Haar, Third, Architectural Drafting
Theo Merchant, First, CNC 2 Axis Turning Programmer
Tony Corretjer, Second, CNC 3 Axis Milling Programmer
Edgar Ramirez, Zurisadai Gomez Cotom; Second, Commercial sUAS Drone
Kadence Anthony, Cali Kaiser, Gabe Sidders; Second, Engineering Technology Design
Meredith Barrett, Second, Internetworking
Sydnee Davis, First, Job Skill Demonstration Open
David Diaz Hinojosa, Max Mendez; Second, Mobile Robotics Technology
Carson Jonak, Charlie Gentry, Edly Fernandez, Jonathan Martinez; Third, TeamWorks
Christopher Rosales; Third, T-Shirt Design
Nationals: Sydnee Davis and Theo Merchant
