Westfield Technical Academy participating students in SkillsUSA with coordinator Maureen Baillargeon, bottom right. (Photos submitted)
WESTFIELD –Fifty students from Westfield Technical Academy participated Friday in twenty-three competitions at the SkillsUSA District Leadership and Skills Conference at McCann Technical High School in North Adams. The school entered twenty-three competitions and received twenty-one medals – ten gold, seven silver and four bronze.
“It was a great day for everyone,” said Maureen Baillargeon, SkillsUSA coordinator and lead teacher of Allied Health, who accompanied the students along with chaperones Wayne Bush of Carpentry and Marlene Minardi, of Automotive Technology.
The winners are:
Alieksandra Mkrtchian and Alice Mosijchuk took silver in Additive Manufacturing.
Additive Manufacturing: Second Place Team, Silver- Alieksandra Mkrtchian and Alice Mosijchuk
Automotive Service Technology: First Place, Gold- Derek Simons
Basic Health Care: First Place, Gold- Crystal Lin; Second Place, Silver-Jordyn Sanders
Carpentry: Second Place, Silver- Vitaliy Nazarets
Computer Programming: First Place, Gold- Mark Krikunov
Customer Service: First Place, Gold- Brianna Hoffman; Third Place, Bronze- Jasmine Brooks
Electrical Construction Wiring: First Place, Gold- Frank Florek
First Aid/CPR: Third Place, Bronze- Erica Marek
Industrial Motor Control: First Place, Gold- Dan Shaw
Internetworking: Third Place, Bronze- Deajah Barbour
Medical Math: First Place, Gold- Marina Zhuvarel
Medical Terminology: First Place, Gold- Cassandra Garrett; Second Place, Silver- Liza Lapko
Nurse Assistant: Third Place, Bronze- Brooke Thompson
Robotics- Urban Search and Rescue: First Place Team, Gold- Mason Washington and Joshua Faunce; Second Place Team, Silver- Nick Langlois and Aynsley Davidson
The regional competition, in which nine schools from six districts competed (Westfield is in District 6), consists of three multiple choice tests. The first test is fifty questions on the student’s trade area. The second test is fifty questions on leadership; and the third is an OSHA test, which is only used if needed for a tie-breaker.
Robotics teams took home gold and silver. (L-R) Mason Washington, Ainsley Davidson, Nick Langlois and Joshua Faunce.
Gold and Silver medalists at the regionals are eligible to compete at the state competition on April 26—28 in Marlboro, where 54 schools will be competing. The state competition is hands-on, during which students will complete 5-hour tasks in their trades.
Baillargeon said some of the medals were in competitions WTA had never entered before, such as Additive Manufacturing, for which Alieksandra Mkrtchian and Alice Mosijchuk received a silver medal. Baillargeon said in the state competition, the team will design a car on a computer, print it out of composite materials on a 3-D printer, and then race it on a Pinewood Derby track.
Another new competition was Robotics: Urban Search and Rescue. The Army National Guard brought the free program and the robots to WTA this year. The Guard spent one day with students from Manufacturing Technology, one day with Information Technology and one day with all of the ninth graders, where the robots were run through an obstacle course. At the SkillsUSA regionals, WTA teams took gold and silver in the competition.
Jordyn Sanders won silver and Chrystal Lin, gold in Basic Health Care.
For the state competition, the students will build a robot with an arm at the school and keep an engineering notebook. They will then bring their robots to states where they will be opening mailboxes, and looking for EODs (Explosive Ordinance Device). Students will be in another room looking at the robot-cam (not at the robot), and giving it instructions. “It’s a fun competition. We’ve never done it before,” Baillargeon said.
Other competitions new to WTA were in Baillargeon’s technical area. In Basic Health Care, two sophomores received gold and silver medals; and Medical Math, where a student received a gold medal.
She said for the state competition in Basic Health Care, students will have to go through a series of stations where they will perform CPR and other health-related tasks. Each student will also have to give a 5-7 minute presentation on a specific skill in health care, such as taking blood pressure and temperature.
Mark Krikunov earned gold in Computer Programming.
The state competition will take place April 26-28 in Marlboro, Mass, hosted by Blackstone Valley Technical High School and Best Western Trade Center Hotel, one of five area hotels that participate. Baillargeon said most hands-on events requiring shops, such as Automotive Technology, will take place at Blackstone Valley. Leadership and math competitions will be at area hotels.
She said she hopes to bring four chaperones including herself to the state competition, but cost is an issue.
The costs add up quickly. Baillargeon said she will have twenty-three students at states – the seventeen gold and silver medal winners, plus two students who will compete in Related Technical Math and a team of four in Entrepreneurship; neither of which were offered at the regional level.
Frank Florek won gold in Electrical Construction Wiring.
The cost is $280 per student, and $395 per chaperone, which includes meals, a 2-night hotel stay and transportation to all competition sites. The total cost with three chaperones is $7,355, and with four chaperones, $8,050.
She said they started with a budget of $10,000 for the year, but after paying for the regional competition and other costs, such as renting a bus, she is left with $5,000.
“I didn’t realize so many kids were going to win,” said Baillargeon
Baillargeon said they plan on doing fundraising for the approximately $3,000 that is needed.
She also said anyone who would like to sponsor a specific student or the competition as a whole, may make their check payable to WTA SkillsUSA, and mail it to the school at 33 Smith Avenue, Westfield, MA 01085.
“SkillsUSA is expensive to belong to, but the benefits are worth it – leadership, entrepreneurship, striving to be the best in your skill field,” said Baillargeon, adding, “It’s like a sports team for your shop.”
Vitaliy Nazarets earned silver in Carpentry.
Derik Simons won gold in Automotive Technology.
Liza Lapko took silver in Medical Terminology, and Marina Zhuvarel, gold, in Medical Math.
Jasmine Brooks took bronze, and Brianna Hoffman, Gold in Customer Service.
Dan Shaw took gold in Industrial Motor Control.
Deajah Barbour won bronze in Internetworking.
Allied Health medalists Brooke Thompson, Erica Marek and Cassandra Garrett.
