The SkillsUSA state leadership conference yielded 25 top-5 placers and eight will advance to represent Eastland-Fairfield at the 2024 national conference.
April 11, 2024
From Eastland-Fairfield Career Center
On April 9 and 10, students from Eastland Career Center, Fairfield Career Center, and its satellite programs competed in the 2024 SkillsUSA State Championships, held at The Greater Columbus Convention Center. Fifteen students across the Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools district took a place on the podium following their competitions and eight earned the chance to compete at the upcoming national competition.
Seven of the eight EFCTS national qualifiers come from programs housed at Eastland Career Center. ECC Pre-Dental students completed a clean sweep in the Dental Assisting event, taking first, second, and third place. Teays Valley senior Cadence Wrightsel emerged as the state champion and national qualifier from that event.
Three more spots were claimed by the junior trio of McKenna Bell (Bloom-Carroll), Lola Phillips (Amanda-Clearcreek), and Mariah Pittman (Reynoldsburg) who teamed up for a first-place finish in the Promotional Bulletin Board team event. All three are students in the Graphic Design program. Two additional Graphic Design seniors, Brooke Van Tilburg and Helen Norfolk (Bloom-Carroll), claimed first place in the web design category and will also head to Nationals.
In an off-site event held earlier in the month, senior Zander Susor (Groveport Madison) took top honors in the Automotive Service event, earning him a ticket to the national conference.
Senior Sabrina Coleman (Pre-Nursing, Bloom-Carroll) will represent Fairfield Career Center at the national event after earning gold in the Customer Service competition.
Six students claimed second place in their respective events, including a trio of students from the Cyber Security program housed at New Albany High School. Seven students from FCC programs earned a place on the podium following three fourth-place finishes and a team of four in the Quiz Bowl placed fifth.
In addition, Fairfield Career Center was recognized as a Bronze Chapter of Excellence, making it one of only 13 chapters across the state to be designated with the honor.
More than 75 Eastland-Fairfield students participated in the state championships. A list of SkillsUSA competition top-5 finishers is available below.
The SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference will be held June 24-28, 2024, in Atlanta, Ga., where more than 19,000 students, teachers, staff, and business partners will gather for the week-long event.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. A nonprofit national education association, SkillsUSA serves middle-school, high-school, and college/postsecondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. SkillsUSA serves more than 333,527 students and instructors annually. SkillsUSA has served nearly 14 million annual members cumulatively since 1965 and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.
Eastland Career Center Chapter – Top 5 (name, year, homeschool, program – competition, place)
- Zander Susor (Sr., Groveport Madison, Automotive) – Automotive Service, GOLD ^
- Cadence Wrightsel (Sr., Teays Valley, Pre-Dental) – Dental Assisting, GOLD ^
- McKenna Bell (Jr., Bloom-Carroll), Lola Phillips (Jr., Amanda-Clearcreek), and Mariah Pittman (Jr., Reynoldsburg) – Promotional Bulletin Board Team, GOLD ^
- Helen Norfolk (Sr., Bloom-Carroll), Brooke Van Tilburg (Sr.) – Web Design Team, GOLD ^
Fairfield Career Center Chapter – Top 5 (name, year, homeschool, program – competition, place)
- Sabrina Coleman (Sr., Bloom-Carroll, Pre-Nursing) – Customer Service, GOLD ^
- Akosua Aboagye (Jr., Groveport Madison, Pharmacy) – Medical Terminology, 4th place
- Aryanna Rykard (Sr., Pickerington Central, Pre-Nursing) – Phlebotomy, 4th place
- Ganathaliery Belizaire (Sr., Pickerington Central, Pre-Nursing), Freditta Omebele (Sr., New Albany, Pre-Nursing), Joslyn Kitsmiller (Sr., Reynoldsburg, Pre-Nursing), Sierra Rehl (Sr., Teays Valley, Pre-Nursing) – Quiz Bowl, 5th place
Satellite Chapter – Top 5 (name, year, homeschool, program – competition, place)
- Taylor Johnson (Sr., New Albany, Cyber Security), Zachary Miller (Sr., New Albany, Cyber Security) – Cyber Security Team, SILVER
- Hassan Freeman (Sr., New Albany, Cyber Security) – Internetworking, SILVER
- Nathan Lacey (Sr., Gahanna Lincoln, Architecture & Construction Management) – Related Technical Math, SILVER
^ indicates student(s) has qualified to compete at the 2024 SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference
