Nearly 75 Kern High School District (KHSD) students, each of whom qualified in regional competitions earlier in the year, represented our community and their respective schools at the SkillsUSA California State Conference and Skills Competition. Students from Frontier High School, West High School, and Foothill High School, as well as 8 programs from Regional Occupational Center (ROC) participated in the event held in San Diego.

Over 100 different trade, technical, and leadership events are held under the SkillsUSA banner, with KHSD students competing in skill fields including Electronics Technology and  Automotive Refinishing. Scores of other students competed in leadership competitions such as Community Service, Prepared Speech, and Extemporaneous Speaking.

Despite stiff competition from throughout the state, KHSD students earned the Chapter Excellence Award and the California State Most Charitable Chapter Award. Individual students also excelled with KHSD students earning 8 gold, 4 silver, and 8 bronze medals. A total of nine local students qualified for the national competition, to be held this June in Louisville, Kentucky.

Two ROC students were further recognized at the national level, with Todd Lamas, a state SkillsUSA officer, nominated as a National Officer candidate and Samantha Hussein appointed as one of California’s delegates to the upcoming national conference.

Gold medal winner Cuauhtemoc Rivera is pictured here with his Electronics Technology Instructor Mr. Stephen Mears.

SkillsUSA is a national organization consisting of 300,000 high school and college students. With assistance from industry, trade associations, and labor organizations, SkillsUSA endeavors to provide students with the technical skills and leadership abilities necessary to succeed in today’s workplace.