Valley Charter High School is seeking donations to send a group of students, including one from Oakdale, to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Championships in Kansas City, Mo., June 21-29.
In early February, the VCHS SkillsUSA Chapter 524 went to Delta College for the SkillsUSA California Region 5 Competition where they won 17 Gold, 10 Silver, and two bronze medals. All Gold medalists, including Matthew Gery of Oakdale, became eligible to attend the SkillsUSA California State Leadership and Skills Competition in San Diego.
In early April, 17 VCHS students went to the state championships, where they captured 10 Golds, two Silvers, and seven Bronze medals. The students competed in: Chapter Display, Career Pathway Showcase-Science, Math, Technology and Engineering, Photography, Fire Fighting, First Aid CPR, Technical Computer Applications, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Job Demonstration-Open, Advertising Design, Community Service, Digital Cinema Production, Engineering Technology, and Page Layout.
Gery won gold in Technical Computer Applications, which qualifies him to go to the national event, and he was part of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies team that captured a bronze medal. He was also one of the recipients of the Statesman Award, which is the highest award given to SkillsUSA competitors and he is also a Region 5 officer.
The 10 students who won gold medals, as well as two new state officers from VCHS, have begun fundraising efforts upon returning in order to attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Championships in Kansas City, Mo. The 12 students are required to raise $1200 each, for a total of $14,400, in order to fund all of their expenses for the trip.
These students will represent California as the best in the state competing against representative from 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. They will be competing for the national title and scholarships in addition to a seat on the World’s SkillsUSA Team competing in Brazil for 2013-2014.
For those interested in support this team with a donation, contact Tina Collier at VCHS at (209) 679-1003 or (209) 238-6817 or by e-mail at tcollier@valleycharterhs.org. Checks may be made payable to VCHS Technology Boosters, and sent to Tina Collier, Advisor, 108 Campus Way, Modesto 95350.
SkillsUSA is an organization that is nonprofit and allows students to showcase their vocational and leadership skills to business and industry partners through a series of competitions starting from Regionals all the way to Internationals.
