AHS SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference

Apalachee High School's SkillsUSA attended the SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference. The conference was held on February 22-24 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

SkillsUSA is part of a national student organization to prepare youth for high performance employment opportunities in an industrial and technical workforce. Students enrolled in a Career Technical Education (CTE) class are encouraged to participate in SkillsUSA.

AHS was recognized as a Quality Chapter and received Bronze Chapter of Distinction.

Amanda Pugh was selected as SkillsUSA Georgia Advisor of the Year.

"I was really surprised to receive the SkillsUSA Georgia Advisor of the Year Award. There are a lot of great SkillsUSA Advisors in the state and to be selected was very surreal," said Pugh.

There were 41 AHS students to attend the State Conference this year. AHS SkillsUSA competed in thirty competitions, some competing in multiple competitions.

"I watched our students cheer on one another and give hugs and high fives. No matter where they placed, they are all champions, because they took pride in their competitions," said Pugh.

Iyah Brewer sang The National Anthem at the Opening Session. 

Koreen Mathis served as a SkillsUSA State Officer and greeted Superintendent Wood on stage.

Nic Centeno and Isabel won first place Trial Advocacy at the conference. The pair competed in a competition created to provide members with an opportunity to develop and demonstrate basic trial advocacy skills, experience trial preparation, and participate in portions of mock trials. The pair also had to take a written test to demonstrate legal and trial knowledge.

Genevieve Agyemang won first place Communication Skills for ninth and tenth grade. Genevieve had to participate in an online assessment to test her basic grammar and spelling skills and competency. In addition, she had to complete a submission of a handwritten response to a professional or SkillsUSA related question to evaluate written expression skills.

Nic Centeno also won second place in Applied Communication Skills for eleventh and twelfth grade. Nic had to complete an online multiple choice assessment covering grammar and spelling.

Destinii Cadel and Iyah Brewer won second place in Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). The competition provides members with an opportunity to develop and demonstrate knowledge and skills they will need to respond to their community's immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster.

Marcelo Macias won second place in Employment Application Process. The competition tests readiness in applying for employment and understanding of the process.

Andy Serrato, Emily Fowler, and Anthony Vasquez won second place in School Project. The competition is to encourage teamwork among students for a common goal. The team had to develop a project plan and proposal before the implementation process.

Congratulations to all AHS' SkillsUSA participants!