2013 SkillsUSA Minnesota State Conference Press Release

Minneapolis, MN, April 11, 2013

The SkillsUSA Championships, held in Bloomington, MN took place on April 5-7, 2013. The conference was a showcase of career and technical education students where more than 800 outstanding career and technical education students competed in 80 hands-on trade, technical and leadership contests. Minnesota state colleges captured gold, silver and bronze medals for 241 college division students at the SkillsUSA Minnesota 2013 State Leadership and Skills Conference, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington. The competitions focused on technical skill demonstration where students captured gold, silver and bronze medals in 80 competitive events in both divisions, with over 600 college students from 25 campuses of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities the competition focused on technical skill demonstration in 67 competitive events. Minnesota High School students captured 200 gold, silver and bronze medals for the high school division in 60 competitive events, with over 218 students from 30 high school campuses.

The SkillsUSA Championships, held in Bloomington, MN took place April 5-7, 2013, as part of the SkillsUSA 46th annual State Leadership and Skills Conference a showcase of career and technical education students. During the weekend hundreds of outstanding career and technical education students—all local contest winners competed in different trade, technical and leadership fields. During the state competition, students worked against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like welding, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. All contests are run with the help of over 500 industry, trade associations, and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by industry. In addition, leadership contestants demonstrated their skills, which included extemporaneous speaking and conducting meetings by parliamentary procedure.

Keynote speakers were Honorable Mark Ritchie, MN Secretary of State on Sunday morning and LTC John M. Hinck from the United States Army on Friday afternoon. Honorary medallion presenters Sunday morning included: Colonel John Box United States Army from Fort Knox, Kentucky, Dr. Denise Roseland, Sr. CTE Planning & Evaluation Director, MnSCU; Jeff Erickson, Principal, Mounds View High School, Darren Kermes, Executive Director, Carver Scott Educational Cooperative. SkillsUSA Advisors of the Year for 2013 were announced: College Division: Mr. David Malone, Masonry instructor from Alexandria Technical and Community & College, and Mr. Craig Knippel, Graphic Communications instructor from Austin High School, Austin, MN.

Top student winners received gold, silver and bronze medallions. Many also received prizes such as tools of their trade and/or scholarships to further their careers and education totaling over $350, 000. The SkillsUSA Championships is for high school and college-level students who are members of SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA first place winners will represent Minnesota in Kansas City this June 24-28, 2013 for the 49th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), a showcase of career and technical education students.

SkillsUSA is a national partnership of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA chapters help students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations excel. SkillsUSA has more than 300,000 students and instructors as members.

For more information, visit http://www.skillsusa.org/events/nlsc.shtml

Sincerely,
Jennifer Polz, Executive Director
SkillsUSA Minnesota

State Conference Results

Click here to view the 2013 State Conference High School/Secondary Winners

Click here to view the 2013 State Conference College/Post-Secondary Winners