Westfield Technical Academy SkillsUSA team excelled at Regionals on March 9. (WESTFIELD TECHNICAL ACADEMY PHOTO)
WESTFIELD – The 2020 SkillsUSA Massachusetts District 6 Conference took place March 9 at McCann Technical High School in North Adams. Westfield Technical Academy brought a delegation of 38 students and returned with 16 conference medals and four perfect score medals.
“The group that was chosen to go this year met high quality standards of 80 percent or better in their shop grades and were recommended by a shop instructor for their hands-on skill as well as their technical knowledge,” said SkillsUSA Advisor Maureen Baillargeon, who chaperoned the event along with Allied Health Instructor Heather Potito and Construction Technology Instructor Wayne Bush, Construction Technology Instructor.
Westfield Technical Academy swept Basic Health Care in the SkillsUSA Regional competition: (L-R) Medalists Crystal Lin, gold; Kaitlyn Priest, silver, and Angelina Oliyevska, bronze. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Westfield highlights in this year’s regionals included sweeping Basic Health Care with gold, silver and bronze medals, and earning gold medals in Automotive Refinishing, Customer Service and Industrial Motor Control.
Four Westfield students also received perfect scores on the OSHA Safety portion of the testing.
Baillargeon also singled out sophomore Kaden Rodriguez for winning bronze in cabinet making, a new addition to Construction Technology this year.
“We never expect a sophomore to win, we just want to give them the experience,” Baillargeon said.
WTA sophomore Kaden Rodriguez won bronze in Cabinet Making, a new area offered in Constuction Tech this year. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Gold and silver medal winners at the Regionals are slated to move forward to the State Conference.
SkillsUSA Medalists:
Automotive Refinishing Technology -Gold- First Place: Kirill Melnikov
Automotive Service Technology- Bronze- Third Place: Riley Sullivan
Basic Health Care – Gold – First Place: Crystal Lin
Basic Health Care – Silver – Second Place: Kaitlyn Priest
Basic Health Care – Bronze- Third Place: Angelina Oliyevska
Cabinet Making – Bronze- Third Place: Kaden Rodriquez
CNC Milling Specialist – Bronze- Third Place: Mason Washington
Customer Service – Gold – First Place: Danielle Babinova
Electronics Technology – Silver – Second Place: Kyle Stober
Health Knowledge Bowl Team of 4 – Silver- Second Place: Ashley Hall, Julie McCorkindale, Christina Mosijchuk, Morgan Danek
Industrial Motor Control – Gold – First Place: Brandon Chapman
Industrial Motor Control – Bronze- Third Place: Michael Durkee
Internetworking – Bronze – Third Place: Deajah Barbour
Perfect Scores on the OSHA Safety portion of the testing: Crystal Lin, Raven Carrasquillo, Matthew Thayer, Jackson Lambert.
SkillsUSA president Kirill Melnikov, a senior, won gold in Automotive Refinishing this year. He is hoping to be able to go to states and show off his skills. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Baillargeon said the regional competition took place the same day that the governor declared a state of emergency. “As we were at the conference, the governor declared the state of emergency. Everything since was cancelled,” Baillargeon said.
She said while it is unlikely that the state competition will take place in April as planned, she is hopeful they will postpone it and set a new date, because the students, especially the seniors, want to show off their skills.
“They all performed professionally; we didn’t have one complaint,” Baillargeon said about the regional conference.
“I get to see the best of everyone in the school being the SKilllsUSA advisor. I’m proud of them all,” she added.
