News

Three SCC students win gold at 2008 SkillsUSA National Skills Championships in Kansas City

Somerset Community College students Jonathan Fox, Aaron Ross and Anastasia South brought home a Gold Medal from the 2008 SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference and Skills Championship held in Kansas City, Missouri, June 21-27.

Fox, Ross and South earned the top national award in Automated Manufacturing Technology, which includes Computer Assisted Design (CAD), Computer Assisted Machining (CAM) and Computer Numerical Controls (CNC).

South is from Russell County, while Fox and Ross are from Pulaski County.

Cillia Rains, an SCC Cosmetology student at the SCC Laurel Campus, won the Silver Medal for her Cosmetology skills.

SCC student Keegan Bray of Wayne County, earned a Bronze Medal in Criminal Justice.

SCC students earned two Sixth Place Awards at the national event. Curtis Combs of Lincoln County won his Sixth Place Award in Electronics Applications, while Whitney Gambrell of London in Laurel County win a Sixth Place prize in the Esthetics event. Her model during the competition was Jayme Payne, who is also from London.

SCC students also won two Ninth Place Awards. Wayne Gastineau of Rockcastle County finished in Ninth Place in the Computer Numerical Controls Milling competition, while Todd Stephens of Adair County earned a Ninth Place Award in Computer Numerical Controls Turning.

SCC student Steven Bowman from Laurel County competed in the Carpentry event for SCC, but did not finish in the top ten.

In all eleven students from SCC Somerset Campus and the SCC Laurel Campus finished in the top ten in their events at the Kansas City event.

Daniel Burnett, SCC Professor of Machine Tool Manufacturing and Division Chair of the SCC Construction and Manufacturing Division; Regina “Kay” Swanner, Associate Professor of Cosmetology; and Karl Watson, Welding Assistant Professor, attended the Kansas City event.
More than 5,000 career and technical education students participated in hands-on competition in 91 trade, technical and leadership fields. Working against the clock and each other, the participants demonstrated job skills in areas such as electronics, technical drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. There were also competitions in leadership skills, such as extemporaneous speaking and using parliamentary procedure to conduct meetings.
“The SkillsUSA Kentucky national delegation returned home with eight medals (gold, silver and bronze) and 33 top-ten finishers,” said Steve Phillippi, Kentucky SkillsUSA state director. “Kentucky’s delegation showcased the best in our career and technical education programs. The principals and teachers who support our SkillsUSA Kentucky organization have helped our students attain these top honors at nationals. We are proud of their efforts and of how well our students performed on a national level.”
SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. The annual SkillsUSA Championships recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and encourage them to strive for excellence in their chosen occupations. Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, SkillsUSA is cited by the U.S. Department of Labor as a “successful model of employer-driven youth development training program.”
For more information about SkillsUSA, visit http://www.skillsusa.org.
The following represents a list of students from Somerset Community College who placed in the top 10 in their respective group competition at nationals.

1st Place (Gold Medal)
Automated Manufacturing Technology- CAD/CAM/CNC (Team of 3), Jonathan Fox, Somerset CC-Somerset North (Pulaski - Somerset)
Aaron Ross, Somerset CC-Somerset North (Pulaski - Somerset)
Anastasia South; Somerset CC-Somerset North (Russell - Russell Springs)

2nd Place
Cosmetology
Cillia Rains, Somerset CC-Laurel South (Laurel - London)

3rd Place
Criminal Justice
Keegan Bray, Somerset CC-Somerset North (Wayne - Monticello)

6th Place
Electronics Applications
Curtis Combs, Somerset CC-Somerset North (Lincoln - Stanford)

6th Place
Esthetics
Whitney Gambrell, Somerset CC-Laurel South (Laurel - London)
Esthetics (Model) Jayme Payne, Somerset CC-Laurel South (Laurel - London)

9th Place
CNC Milling
Wayne Gastineau, Somerset CC-Somerset North (Rockcastle- Mt Vernon)

9th Place
CNC Turning
Todd Stephens; Somerset CC-Somerset North (Adair - Columbia)

Somerset Community College is a comprehensive two-year institution of higher education. SCC has campuses in Somerset and London, centers in Clinton, McCreary, Casey and Russell Counties. The website is www.somerset.kctcs.edu. Call for admission and registration information toll free at 1-877-629-9722.

KCTCS serves the Commonwealth through 16 community and technical college districts that form a seamless system of 62 campuses open or under construction. KCTCS colleges change lives by providing accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu.