Bates Hosts Statewide SkillsUSA Championships for Fourth Consecutive Year
What: SkillsUSA State Championships
When: Saturday, April 14, 2007, 8:00am – 2:00pm
Where: Bates Technical College, Tacoma, WA
Downtown Campus, 1101 South Yakima Avenue
Mohler Campus, 2320 South 19th Street
South Campus, 2201 South 78th Street
TACOMA, WA For the fourth consecutive year, Bates Technical College will welcome more than 600 high school students from 39 Washington State school districts to the SkillsUSA State Championships in Tacoma, on Saturday, April 14. SkillsUSA is a student leadership organization that partners students, teachers and industry working together to ensure that America has a skilled workforce. It provides opportunities for students in vocational, technical and health occupations fields to showcase their talents and skills in workplace competencies, leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. Beginning at 8:00 a.m. at all three Bates’ campuses, students will demonstrate technical skills in 26 categories. Competitions will continue until the final tests and finished products are delivered to the scoring rooms by 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Thirty Bates instructors and more than 550 advisors and judges volunteer for the state event, from developing the competencies and creating the tests, to judging the categories and soliciting rewards for top competitors. Finalists in each category will be named at the awards banquet at the Tacoma Sheraton on Saturday evening.
From as far away as Spokane and Kennewick and as near as Puyallup and Tacoma, students compete individually and sometimes as teams in commercial baking, internetworking or nurse assisting for example. They may diagnose a car’s engine, build kitchen cabinets, bake and decorate a cake, troubleshoot a computer’s hard drive, design a web site, fight a fire, or produce a television program – all within an allotted amount of time, and according to industry standards.
It’s challenging, it’s a lot of pressure, but these students take it all in stride. Students competing in this event have already won local and regional contests throughout the state, and are at Bates for the final competitions before moving on to the national championships in Kansas City, Missouri in June. There, in a multi-million dollar event, more than 4,600 students will compete in 80 occupational and leadership skill areas. Prizes include scholarships, tools, travel expenses and gift certificates.
Participating School Districts
Aberdeen, Auburn, Battle Ground, Bellevue, Bremerton, Central Kitsap, Centralia, Eastmont, Edmonds, Elma, Evergreen, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Kennewick, Mary K. Knight, Lake Washington, Longview, Montesano, Moses Lake, Mukilteo, New Market, North Thurston, Northshore, Port Angeles, Prosser, Pullman, Puyallup, Renton, Richland, Riverside, Spokane, Steilacoom, Sumner, Sunnyside, Tacoma, Vancouver, Winlock, and Yakima.
Technical Skills Categories
Bates Downtown Campus, 1101 South Yakima Avenue
Cabinetmaking, Computer Maintenance Technology, Cosmetology, Internetworking, Technical Drafting, Web Page Design
Bates Mohler Campus, 2320 South 19th Street
3-D Imaging and Animation, Television News Anchor (3-person team), Television Production (2-person team)
Bates South Campus, 2201 South 78th Street
Automotive Service Technology, Carpentry, Collision Repair Technology, Commercial Baking, Culinary Arts, Diesel Equipment Technology, Fire Fighting, Food and Beverage Service, Power Equipment Technology, Welding
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a student leadership organization that partners students, teachers and industry working together to ensure that America has a skilled workforce. Founded in 1965, the national organization of 13,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations, serves more than 280,000 students and instructors annually. It provides opportunities for students in vocational, technical and health occupations fields to showcase their talents and skills in workplace competencies, leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. This year’s competition theme is “SkillsUSA: Champions At Work.” For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.
About Bates Technical College
Bates is the state’s largest technical college, offering certificate and degree opportunities in career education, distance learning, extended learning and apprenticeship training. For more information, visit www.bates.ctc.edu, or call 1.253.680.7000. |
