Shawsheen Tech seniors, from left, Kylie Plowman (Wilmington), Nicole Hatch (Burlington), Kylie McLaughlin (Billerica) and Addison Dunham (Tewksbury), were gold medalists at the Health Knowledge Bowl during the SkillsUSA regional tournament. (Courtesy of Shawsheen Tech)
BILLERICA — The Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical School District is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievements of its students at the SkillsUSA District 4 competition held March 14.
The competition featured students from eight well-known technical schools in the area, including Essex Tech, Nashoba Tech and Greater Lawrence Tech. Vocational and leadership skills competitions were held across 86 disciplines, with Shawsheen proudly sending 176 students to showcase their talents and skills.
The SkillsUSA Championships are a series of local (district), state and national competitions designed to recognize student excellence in career and technical education.
Each skills area in the District SkillsUSA competition has three components that determine a student's final score and ranking: a comprehensive skills exam (70% of the final score), an employment skills/professional development exam (20%), and an OSHA exam (10%).
During a school assembly on March 25, Karen Meister, assistant chapter advisor for the Shawsheen SkillsUSA chapter, praised the competing students for their dedication and hard work and highlighted the great progress they have made toward their career goals. Meister proudly announced that 66 Shawsheen students won medals at the competition, including 21 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 18 bronze medals, with 56 of those students qualifying to compete at the SkillsUSA state competition in April.
Shawsheen students excelled in a variety of career and leadership skills areas, winning 30 of the 86 categories. Notable skill areas included architectural drafting, industrial motor control, culinary arts and dental assisting, reflecting the school's commitment to providing training tailored to industry needs.
” [SkillsUSA] “The objectives of the championships are to reward outstanding students, engage industry in directly evaluating student performance, and keep training aligned with employer needs,” the national SkillsUSA webpage states.
Shawsheen Valley Technical School is pleased with this year’s results and would like to congratulate the following SkillsUSA district medalists:
Gold Medalist: Jake Amoroso, Alyssa Costantiello, Matthew Dall, Ronan Dewar, Addison Dunham, Colin Foley, Nicole Hatch, Jonathan Hureau, Jasmine Johansen, Cole Kelly, Melissa Lavigne, Isabella Lewis, Kayla Mason, Kylie McLaughlin, Rain Miller, Roy Plewa, Kylie Plowman, Alexandra Quick, Zachary Rogers, Isaac Schmidt, Dario Walton.
Silver Medalist: Aiden Bain, Phoebe Cameron, John Canadas, John DiPietropoulo, Jason Dube, Nicholas Gattinelli, Nicholas Gerasimov, Autumn Halas, Brendan Ingersoll, Nishta Ramsal, Hope Ledoux, Nicholas Leite, Madeline Long, Gianna Manoulis, Seamus Norton, Allie Oliver, Anthony Pellegrino, Jayden Perez, Alaina Powell, Ralph Raymond, Samuel Sarkisian, Jason Spaniol, Shelby Tangusso, Mesan Tayaaparan, Delaney Ward, Michael Ware, Julianna Welch.
Bronze Medalist: Nolan Ally, Avery Asarian, Anna Doughty, Jason Flavin, Jackson Goldman, Maximus Hussey-Cerqueira, Joseph Jenkins, Harrison Kinsella, Ava Ledoux, Christine McDonald, Sydney McPherson, Connor Merchant, Amelia Matzke, Sean Morgan, Lorena Raposa, Tucker Robinson, Seth Ruchalski, Megan Steeves.
