For about 10 minutes, the SkillsUSA Opening and Closing team from LCCTC took over the Joint Operating Committee's monthly board meeting and basically "kicked Mr. Rich out of his very own seat" at the table, but it wasn't a coup; this gold-medal-winning team from the state of Pennsylvania were happy to present their performance to the Joint Operating Committee -- the same performance they'll present to the judges at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in just five days.
How did the team make it to this level? With a lot of hard, dedicated work. Once their newest members were selected, the team began weekly after-school practices. After memorizing their individual speeches, they learned to take constructive criticism -- lots of it (in gentle doses). Walking, talking, sitting, and holding a piece of plastic doesn't sound difficult, but when the members need to do all of these in the same fashion with warmth, grace, and natural movements, the difficulty level increases.
How did the team make it to this level? With a lot of hard, dedicated work. Once their newest members were selected, the team began weekly after-school practices. After memorizing their individual speeches, they learned to take constructive criticism -- lots of it (in gentle doses). Walking, talking, sitting, and holding a piece of plastic doesn't sound difficult, but when the members need to do all of these in the same fashion with warmth, grace, and natural movements, the difficulty level increases.
"Slow down when you talk... and speak up ... and smile ...but not that much..."
"Turn the corner on your right foot ... swing your arms when you walk ...but not that much..."
These bits of constructive criticism from the coach and from each other are just small examples of what the team experienced -- month after month after month. It sometimes got a little frustrating, but the end goal was always in sight: to finally win that gold medal and represent our school, our home schools, and the state of Pennsylvania at Nationals, and strangely enough, it was all worth it.
When the board and audience witnessed the presentation, they should have noticed that this is no ordinary team. They saw young professionals who believe that practice makes perfect and hard work truly does pay off. As a token of their appreciation, the team presented each school with a hand-written Thank-You note and a photograph of the team in hopes that the members of LCCTC's JOC board will return to the home schools and share their gratitude.
The board had a surprise for the team as well. They bestowed the team with the honor of the "Pride and Promise award given to those associated with the school -- people who go above and beyond.
"Our Opening and Closing Team" would like to thank you, and our home schools, for your generous support as we travel to Kentucky. We hope to continue to make you proud as we represent our state in competition. For so many of us, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we are truly grateful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
What did they learn from their experience?
“I am a lot more confident with everything I do, especially in public,” reflects Kaitlyn Wright (graduate from Ellwood City). I use to just stay quiet and stand in the shadows, but now I'm like, ‘Ayeee! I'm Kaitlyn!’ An additional lesson I learned was that I learned no matter what we go through, we are a team, and we have to get through it -- together.” In the fall, Kaitlyn is looking forward to starting her post-secondary education at Youngstown State University in nursing.
Kylie Smith echos that (Kaitlyn's) sentiment: “Not only have we gained confidence, we have gained a sense of trust in ourselves too -- I, in particular, feel this. I always need to be able to tell myself ‘I can do this’ or ‘It might take time, but I’ll get there.’ We all learned to love each other -- flaws and all, and we learned to work together to improve our overall goal: to win gold at the National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky." With confidence like this, Kylie is sure to go far! In the fall, Kylie will study nursing at Youngstown State University.
Jenna Locke will be a senior next year. When considering what being a member of this team has meant to her, she says, “SkillsUSA and Opening & Closing has really showed me what it's like to have responsibility. When I went to the first practice, I thought, “There's no possible way I'm going to be as good as the rest of the team. If it wasn't for everyone pushing me to find my voice and come out of my shell, I would still be the student who couldn't even speak out in class or speak my mind in any sort of debate. Opening and Closing has really made me a confident and more outspoken person. I'm so glad that I got to grow as a person and that I get the opportunity to travel to the national competition with the greatest team.”
Selected by Kylie, the motto of the team this year has been, “I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~ Henry David Thoreau When asked for a quote to summarize the experience this year, Jake Troutman, now a senior member of the team, sent this quote over the group Facebook message. He got a few laughs, his initial purpose, but upon further reflection, the quote holds true. It IS confidence that is needed to achieve a goal. Who would have ever believed that this group of seven, the SAME seven members from the beginning of the year, would ever achieve this level of success. And who knows what life has in store for them all!
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