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KY (NewsDakota.com) – Six students and three advisors from the Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center attended the 53rd Annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center Director Jeff Bopp said the students that attended were Emerson Meidinger, Jacee Lunde, Ian Kupitz, Brittney Pueppke, Tanaya Leifson, and Erik Johnson. The advisors attending were Kristen Lindgren, Dennis Reinke, and Chris Sjol.
He said SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization that provides students with the opportunity to compete in events corresponding to class subject in trade, industry, and health sciences, as well as several leadership development events.
Bopp said Pueppke, Leifson, and Johnson earned spots at the national conference by winning their contests at the state level (Nurse Assisting, Prepared Speaking, and Welding, respectively), while Meidinger, Lunde, and Kupitz were elected state officers, and represented SkillsUSA North Dakota as voting delegates. Pueppke was ranked sixth place in the nation in Nurse Assisting, Leifson was ranked ninth in Prepared Speaking, and Johnson was ranked 21st in Welding. Meidinger, Lunde, and Kuptiz attended several sessions, including a national officer candidate meet-and-greet, the official annual business meeting, and the national officer voting session.
The conference took place at the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), with all competitions open to the public. It provided an opportunity for students in trade, industry, and health courses to demonstrate the skills that they have learned, and the chance to compete against other people in the same areas.
The opening ceremony had several guest appearances, including Dirty Jobs star Mike Rowe and Nick “Sunshine” Tokman from Deadliest Catch. Immediately following the opening ceremony, buses were ready to take students and advisors downtown for a night of entertainment at Louisville’s Fourth Street Live, provided by the Mikey Needleman Band.
The story and photos were submitted to NewsDakota.com by the Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center in Valley City.
