CONGRATULATIONS! With a final score of 91.10%, our Opening and Closing team is third in the nation -- Yes, that's right...NATION!!! AND they were awarded the prestigious Skill Point Certificate, a test that shows that they are "work force ready! (See the final picture for more info)
To see the conference opening and closing (not the competition), click HERE to see the archives -- The initial announcement is at minute 41:13 and video of the medal placement is at minute 52:30.
Enjoy reflections from a few of our team members below:
Halle St. Clair: Tuesday, June 21 ~ When I joined Skills USA Opening & Closing I NEVER imagined to be in Louisville, Kentucky getting ready to compete at the National level with my team right this very second.
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| First night on Fourth Street. |
Three years ago, some weird, tall lady came up to me and asked my name. After I told her it was Halle, well -- she decided it was going to be Katniss instead. After Ms. McVicker pretty much stalking me and begging me to check out ‘Skills,’ I decided to give it a shot, and oh God am I thankful.
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| First meal at the Hard Rock Cafe |
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| Ready to have a great week |
I, no, WE did it. We made it here. We are here with all the other gold medalists from across the country getting ready to compete tomorrow.
I couldn’t be more thankful that the strange lady who calls me Katniss, introduced me to something that changed me from a timid, closed off girl, to a woman who is pursuing a career in Public Relations.
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| Hanging out with the Colonel |
Kylie Smith: Wednesday, June 22 ~ “Take a deep breathe Kylie. You got this girl.” These words to myself have influenced my life since I joined SkillsUSA back in 2014. Today, I’m saying them to myself for, perhaps, the last time in my life. If we don’t move on to the top 12, we’ll be done, and SkillsUSA will be a wonderful memory and an incredible learning experience.
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| Louisville welcomed us! |
I never would have imagined my life the way it is today. I often get asked, “What does SkillsUSA mean to me?” Way back in tenth grade, I remember Mrs. McVicker coming up to me locking arms and saying: “I want you on the team.”
I said, “Team? What team?”
She said, “Trust me. You’ll love it.” And soon enough, during my junior year, I joined one of the most amazing organizations. It was a rough start for me, always getting frustrated and upset when i couldn't master my speech, but it pushed me to do better and practice to be perfect. Once I mastered my speech, I learned to go out there and smile and have fun with it -- to let my confidence shine under any circumstance.
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| One of the activities: Trading State Pins! |
Most of you ask what IS Opening and Closing? It is a team of seven members who conduct a scripted business meeting. With synchronized movements and warmth and love for SkillsUSA, our team traveled to Kentucky for the National Competition where we compete with thousands of other career and technical students from Maine to Florida, from Puerto Rico to the Navajo Nation, and from Hawaii and to even Alaska! For our competition we were judged against thirty other Opening and Closing teams IN THE COUNTRY! In the country? Yeah, I get goosebumps, too.
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| Ready to sit in on the pre-meeting with thirty other teams from across the nation! The team met some really nice people from states they may never visit, but the chance to network is one of the perks of being here at this top level. |
There are so many Thank Yous to give out. First, to my team: Without each and every one of you, I wouldn't be the person I am right now. We have been and will always be there for each other when times are tough or even when something great happens! We have made it so far in this competition. I never thought we would be sitting in Kentucky competing against 30 teams in the nation. I feel very lucky and fortunate to have met all of you, and and feel blessed to have experienced the impact you've had on my life.
Secondly, my advisors: Ms. McVicker ~ an amazing teacher, and after graduation, a lifelong friend! Thank you for coming up to me in that hallway. You’re right; I did love it. Thank you for always pushing me to do better. You’re amazing and deserve so much more than a Thank you!
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| The team is ready for the week to begin! |
Mrs. Weisenstien and Mr. Goebel … (“John”) - Thank you for all your effort and your time put in to make sure that we can be able to attend our competitions, we have fun at our competitions, and we have all of these great memories for a lifetime! I love you both so much!
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| The stadium is filling and the excitement is palatable! |
Third, to LCCTC: the students, our teachers, and Mr. Rich - Our school has been so kind to all of us to make sure we succeed and supporting us throughout our journey!
Lastly, to every member of the JOC school board: Thank you for your continuous support. Your generosity to our team is what makes us smile and get through our competition knowing we have our school backing us up. Thank you so much!!
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| And Mike Rowe made an appearance! Check it out here (1:35:42): http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/88665554 |
I really don't know how to end this article because I never want this chapter of my life to end, but I leave LCCTC and SkillsUSA with fantastic memories that will last a lifetime.
Skylar Harris: Thursday, June 23 ~ I'm so happy to be where I am today. When I joined the team, I knew it would be special, but I never imagined it would be THIS special.
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| Skylar, first year senior, helps Jenna, second year junior, make sure every hair is in place. |
I would have never made it to this point without the members of our LCCTC Joint Operating Committee, Mr. Rich, my family, and most of all PJ and "McVic". I would like to give a big "Thank-You" to these two wonderful people because without them, this trip would have been possible, so "Thank You SO MUCH!" After we came out of the competition room, we all cried -- ALL OF US (Yes, Ms. McVicker -- but if I didn't know better, PJ's watery-eyed "allergies" and "contacts" problems only happened when he was proud of us -- and I'd say he cried, too!)
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| Halle covers up her tattoo |
Hi, I'm Jake... and this is for my team:
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| Kylie checks and double checks... |
Graduates: I'm going to miss you all so much. I really wish the best to you talented ladies. If you need anything from me, then please let me know. I have little to offer, but I swear I'd find a way to steal the moon if you asked.
Skylar: You and I were new to this, but we slayed. Out of everyone on the team, I'm glad that I started fresh with you because you've been an amazing, dear friend. I hope that we could meet up after all this, and continue our friendship because of how well we've killed it -- together. I love you, and for more than just that first awesome haircut.
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| Kaitlyn watches it rain...and rain... |
Kaitlyn: You're awesome. I love who you are as a person because you have such a great attitude; even when you are nervous, I've never seen you panicked over anything, and even have every reason in the world to be sad, you possess the talent and ability to absolutely blow people away. It's truly inspirational. I want to remember how incredible you are, and if I forget that, then I'm forgetting the best gift that has come in a small package.
Kayla, Kayla, Kayla: You're so unique that it's lovely. You're interesting, you're unpredictable, and you're so fun to be around. It's hard to imagine a dull moment with you involved. The world would be a great place if everybody has half as much quirkiness as you. The world is a better place because you're on it.
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| Kayla getting some finishing touches with Kaitlyn's help |
Kylie: My Gawd. I love you, and you're insane. I wish there was more people like you in my life because I'd have an even better life than I have. Thank you for being part of mine, Kylie. It's always been great to have you there.
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| President Halle passes the torch to Jake who has one more year to go! |
PJ: Thank you. I've loved having you here. It means so much. This experience has been made so much better because of you. It means so much to me. I'm so happy that you're here. You've helped me out so much with everything from my knowledge of computers to straightening my tie and even my presentation on stage. I feel lucky to have you here, as would anyone, and I will always be grateful for all that you've done.
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| The team is ready for the first round |
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| On their way in to the convention center for the first round of competition... Our goal -- to make LCCTC and the state of Pennsylvania proud. |
I love you all.
Love,
Jake
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| @ this team... |
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| They are so professional, but they're still kids... |
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| Last-minute checks... |
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| First year team members -- forever friends |
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| Looking to the star in the sky! |
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| Love this team. Ready to go! |
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| Traditional star... |
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| On their way to compete with 30 other teams for the chance to advance to the finals (the top 12 teams) Moments later, they returned, but the faces weren't happy. Of course, there are no pictures here -- it just wasn't right... However, there were two "angels" who competed at the post secondary level from a college in Georgia and had watched LCCTC compete. These two followed the team out the door and with a combination of hugs, smiles, and great moral strength freely offered this: "This moment will not define you; it will strengthen you and make you better for the experience." Their decision to speak words of encouragement to the team meant more than they will ever know. There is more to the story -- you'll see it in the pictures at the very end of this blog |
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| Having recovered from earlier, the team decided to visit the SkillsUSA store. Here -- Halle spotted a fellow SkillsUSA student and decided that he needed her signature, too. That's on thing that SkillsUSA supports -- positive networking. The outstanding sportsmanship during the competition was inspiring and it made the entire experience a lot of fun. It seemed more popular to be kind than to be ruthless, and LCCTC embraced this attitude. |
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| After a rough day with round one, Jacob was there for Halle and made her cry with a simple text message of encouragement... We saw this type of action from our team all week long. Moments later, they all cried as we heard that they had a second chance to make it right. |
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| And now, it's time for a little fun! Selena Gomez concert tickets... |
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| It's Kentucky -- there are race horses EVERYWHERE... |
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| Dinner at The Spaghetti Factory... |
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| And now, it's time to make sure they take full advantage of second chances. On the second day of competition (one more day than they thought they'd have), here we are again...making sure Jake is super-ready... |
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| This is a picture before they went in for competition. They are nervous, but determined to make sure they did what they always do -- their very best. And they did... And it paid off... They made it into the top 12 in the nation!!! Holy cow!!! They met their goal!! Anything more is icing on the cake! |
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| ...another star... |
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| Brunch on Fourth: This was one of our favorite meals. We decided to eat "family-style" so if you look, you'll see that their hands are empty and the cell phones are in the middle of the table. It was wonderful. |
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| We were stuck under cover by order of the park on the previous night for SkillsUSA Night, but because of our patience, we scored "Rainy Day Tickets" for the next afternoon. We were awarded TWO second chances this week! |
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| Ready for closing ceremonies. At this time, they were hoping to have scored well enough to make everyone proud and never expected to see... |
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| Holy COW!!! They DID IT!!! Top third team in the nation!! A screenshot from the live feed: 41:13 Here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/88787856 |
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| Another screen shot from the live feed at minute 52:30 Soooo beyond excited!!! |
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| Here's the ending to the story from above: The two pictured hereare Leslie and Christie from Oconee Fall Line Technical College in Dublin Georgia. The team had never met them before the first round of competition. When we fumbled a bit with consistency in placing the emblems and with a "brain fart" in one of the speeches, we were devastated. Not because we were angry with the mistakes, but because we didn't want to let down the rest of the team. These two women rushed out of the competition room behind our team and gave such incredible, inspiring advice -- their words were a gift. After we found that we had a second chance to prove ourselves, our first desire was to find these two. For the next two days, we kept our eyes peeled, but we never caught their names or their state, so we were simply searching blindly. Amazingly, we DID find them -- in the medalists for the college level of our competition (They were successful, too!!) We all now have forever friends and fierce supporters who admitted that they, too had been looking for us and praying for our happiness and strength. Leslie and Christie: A simple "Thank You" is not enough because of how profoundly you have impacted our lives, but it's all we have, so we give it freely and with great sincerity: "Thank you." |
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| "Can you believe it???!!!" |
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| And here's the certificate they earned... but if that wasn't good enough... |
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| They also learned their scoring percentage: 91.10% GREAT JOB!!! But there's still one more reason to celebrate... |
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| RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE WITH SKILL POINT CERTIFICATES As part of the Work Force Ready System, SkillsUSA will again award Skill Point Certificates in all 100 contest areas to recognize outstanding achievements of contestants in addition to those who earn gold, silver and bronze medallions in the SkillsUSA Championships. The same industry leaders who defined the competencies for the Championships determined a “cut score” that indicates excellence for students entering technical fields or leadership. Most cut scores range between 70 and 80 percent, and contestants who reach that level earn a Skill Point certificate. Each certificate lists the competency areas tested in the contest and carries the logos or the names of the organizations and companies that planned and managed this year’s competitions. Students can use their certificates in an employment portfolio and as indicators of proficiency. Each member of our Opening and Closing Team earned this certificate. |
