EXETER — The Seacoast School of Technology has done it again. The campus on Linden Street, for the second year in a row, was host to various career and technology schools in New Hampshire for 12 events in the SkillsUSA competition Friday, March 18.
“SkillsUSA is a national organization about students building leadership and developing skills through competition,” said Principal Margaret Callahan, “It’s also an opportunity for camaraderie for schools across the state.”
Students eligible to compete have performed at the top of their class and enter into the first stage of competition with students from other schools in the state.
The winner of each event will move on to compete in the national competition in Kansas City. Callahan said it is a big accomplishment because the student will be representing their state.
James Collins, the culinary arts instructor, said the biggest competitor each student faces is themselves, and trying to beat their personal best.
Collins said he tried to get students to “see the bigger picture,” and realize it is about “how you are going to grow.”
Culinary students Mike Wasiuk from Winnacunnet and Shannon Warner from Exeter High School, competed in dining room service, while Tyler MacDonald from Newmarket, and Ben Cole from Raymond,” competed in the hot foods competition.
MacDonald and Cole began their competition in the morning when they received a list of ingredients, culinary tools, and ingredients to prepare a given meal.
Each student is given a number and is judged on an anonymous basis by professionals of each trade. It is to create a fair judging ground.
Jim Klingensmith, the building constructions instructor, had two students compete in the carpentry competition, Sampson Ford of Exeter, and Zach Blanchard of Raymond began their event at 10:30 a.m. when they receive a set of tools, supplies, and blueprints and had until 3 p.m. to complete their task.
Klingensmith said instructors are not even informed of the project and students have to return their blueprints immediately after they are finished to be qualified. This is to insure every student has an equal opportunity to win.
“The hardest thing here is the competitive nature,” said Klingensmith. Although students may be stressed about their time, he tells students to “remember the principles (from) the job site, then use them here.”
William Soucie of Raymond, finished his job skills demonstration and said, “I feel really good about it.”
Soucie, a welding student at SST, said he chose to solder a copper pipe, “because it’s something I’m good at and it was different from what other (students) were doing,” in the job skills demonstration.
The competition includes a lab practical, a written test, and model job interview to give students valid feedback about their skills and help them with their future endeavors.
“It’s a key aspect in (someone’s) future, you need to be a good interviewer,” said welding technologies student, Chloe Mendenhall of Raymond. Chloe said she’s learned a key element in her learning at SST is to stay positive about what you’re doing, because, “things will come out better.”
“We create individuals that will contribute to the community,” said welding technologies instructor, Jonathan Theberge.
But not all the events are held at the same location. The baking event, which includes SST students Kaitlin Getma of Raymond, and Jennifer Drelick of Newmarket, will be held on March 23 at a different school.
But Callahan has bigger plans for the future, and hopes to be able to host all the events for SkillsUSA in New Hampshire. This year, some of the events did not include any SST students.
“It’s all about bringing people together,” she said, adding that one location makes it easier for parents, instructors, and classmates to support each other on the day of competition, “we do it for the kids.”
David Howes, a teacher from Pinkerton Academy agrees and said, “We love coming here, there is room for everyone.”
Howes said for years the competition had struggled to find a space that could accommodate each event, but SST is a great environment that provides students with peers from many programs.
Mike Wasiuk, president of SkillsUSA at SST, a culinary arts student, and a competitor in dining room service, said students in career and technical studies have a special bond with each other because they train all together and learn from each other. Wasiuk said that the kind of camaraderie he has experienced is a deeper bond than just friendship, “when you trust someone with a knife, they’ve got to be part of your family.”