Nearly 70 Blue Water Area students are receiving recognition after placing at the top of their programs at this year’s Local Skills USA competition. 130 St. Clair County TEC students from nine technical job-readiness programs; including Automotive, Culinary Arts, and Engineering to name a few, competed in December, with the top three students in each category earning medals and the chance to move on to the Skills USA regional competition next month. Gold finalists in February’s state-level event will then move on the the National Skills USA Competition this summer in Atlanta, Georgia.
AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY (Advisor: Brian Hunter)
Contest: Maintenance and Light Repair
1st Place: Will Walsh, St. Clair High School
2nd Place: Xander Malave, St. Clair High School
3rd Place: Thomas Mason, Port Huron High School
Contest: Automotive Refinishing Technology
1st Place: Kyle Cooper, Port Huron Northern High School
2nd Place: Keegan Fye, Port Huron Northern High School
3rd Place: Rebecca Hashley, Memphis High School
Contest: Automotive Service Technology
1st Place: Shane Darga, Yale High School
2nd Place: Ava Radatz, Yale High School
3rd Place: Zachary Chisholm, Memphis High School
COLLISION REPAIR TECHNOLOGY (Advisors: Mike Parks and Martin George)
Contest: Collision Damage Appraisal
1st Place: Collin Calder, Port Huron High School
Contest: Collision Repair Technology
1st Place: Michael Heffron, Yale High School
2nd Place: Katie Kalich, Yale High School
3rd Place: Nicholas Vivian, Port Huron High School
CONSTRUCTION (Advisors: Ken Sygit and Caleb Howell)
Contest: Carpentry
1st Place: Kendall Greenlaw, Marysville High School
2nd Place: Nick Gorinac, Port Huron Northern High School
Contest: Electrical Construction Wiring
1st Place: Nathan Wright, Marine City High School
2nd Place: Dakota Wellman, Port Huron High School
3rd Place: Colton Burgess, Port Huron High School
Contest: Masonry
1st Place: Greg Sharp, Port Huron Northern High School
Contest: Plumbing
1st Place: Breonna Prieskorn, St. Clair High School
2nd Place: Ted Rattee, Port Huron High School
3rd Place: Jocelyn Cowart, Memphis High School
COSMETOLOGY (Advisors: Beth Kioski, Alecia Klein, and Kara Randall)
Contest: Cosmetology
1st Place: Julia Giannosa, St. Clair High School
2nd Place: Jaime Ayotte, Port Huron Northern High School
3rd Place: Rebecca Jamison, Port Huron Northern High School
Contest: Mannequin
1st Place: Olivia Gildenpfennig, Port Huron Northern High School
2nd Place: Madison Grace, Algonac High School
3rd Place: Lauren Zink, Yale High School
Contest: Esthetics (Artist and Model)
1st Place: Dylan Krause, East China Virtual Academy
2nd Place: Natalie Turner, Port Huron High School
3rd Place: Ally Brooks, Algonac High School
Contest: Nail Care
1st Place: Faith Taylor, Port Huron High School
2nd Place: Alayna Boychuck, Port Huron Northern High School
3rd Place: Adrianna Gable, Algonac High School
CULINARY ARTS (Advisors: Katlin Pfropper and Ally Dinardo)
Contest: Baking
1st Place: Sylviana Tynes, Port Huron Northern High School
2nd Place: Eva Seeley, Yale High School
3rd Place: Keeleigh Bardecki, St. Clair High School
Contest: Culinary Arts
1st Place: Carter Schulte, Marine City High School
2nd Place: Jaden Maul, Marysville High School
3rd Place: Johanna Smafield, Virtual Learning Academy
Contest: Restaurant Services
1st Place: Alexis Sanchez, Port Huron High School
2nd Place: Laurana Reid, Marysville High School
3rd Place: Mariana Spear, Port Huron Northern High School
DIGITAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGY (Advisor: Ann Frederick)
Contest: Audio/Radio Production (2-person team)
1st Place: Marissa Richmond, Yale High School, and Sam Moody, Yale High School
Contest: Digital Cinema Production (2-person teams)
1st Place: Carleigh Halanski, Algonac High School, and Alyssa Reid, Port Huron Northern High School
Contest: Photography
1st Place: Elise Langolf, Port Huron Northern High School
2nd Place: Savannah Gurnow, Algonac High School
3rd Place: Kairi Tosch, Marysville High School
METAL MACHINING (Advisor: Duane Emig)
Contest: Additive Manufacturing (2-person teams)
1st Place: Katherine Emerson, St. Clair High School, and Zaira Sullivan, St. Clair, St. Clair High School
2nd Place: Ryan Warner, Port Huron High School, and Christian Stone, Marine City High School
Contest: CNC Programmer/Technician
1st Place: Lucas, Bauman, Memphis High School
Contest: CNC 3-Axis Milling Programmer/Specialist
1st Place: Zindel Marple, Marysville High School
Contest: Precision Machine Bench
1st Place: Logan Welchko, Algonac High School
Contest: Precision Machine Mill
1st Place: Micheal Carrier, Marysville High School
2nd Place: Ayden McAfee, Marysville High School
3rd Place: Blake Duvall, Yale High School
Engineering and Robotics (Advisor: Melissa Todaro)
Contest: Robotics and Automation (2-person team)
1st Place: Jocelyn Forsythe, St. Clair High School, and James Farnworth, Port Huron High School
WELDING (Advisor: Becca Robertson)
Contest: Welding Sculpture
1st Place: Allie Stamplis, St. Clair High School
2nd Place: Olivia Recor, St. Clair High School
3rd Place: Graham Allam, St. Clair High School
Contest: Welding Overall
1st Place: Tegan Ponke, Algonac High School
2nd Place: Anthony Westrick, Marine City High School
Contest GMAW
1st Place: Damon DeSoto, Port Huron Northern High School
2nd Place: Jaycob Livingston, Memphis High School
Contest: GTAW
1st Place: Everett King, Capac High School
Contest: SMAW
1st Place: Ross Keuning, Yale High School
2nd Place: Ezra Vincent, Virtual Learning Academy
3rd Place: Nolan Gurne, Marysville High School
