Students prove their ability at SkillsUSA

A number of Green River High School students had the opportunity to demonstrate and prove their abilities, both to judges and to themselves, at the Wyoming State SkillsUSA competition.

Eight students from Green River placed within the top three in their competitions.

Four students competed in Automotive Refinishing, with Dyllon Stine taking first, Ezeekeil Allison taking second, Cayden Aragon taking third, and Colter Cudney competing with them.

Allison explained the competition simulated a halfway-done repair they were required to finish, which included working with primer and paint and blending the new paint into the existing paint. Stine said blending the paints so you couldn't tell the difference was the hardest part for him.

"I would say the most challenging part of it is that it's actually a competition, so you lose a lot of your existing knowledge just because of the excitement and nervousness of it," Aragon added.

All four students agreed that "being in the booth" and "getting to be hands on with the painting" were the best part.

GRHS students coming in second place in their competitions included Olivia Sheets in Job Skill Demonstration Open, Carson West in Novice Welding and Shandalyn Frye in Culinary Arts. Students coming in third were Taylon Tirrell in Cabinetmaking and Lydia Westenskow in Job Skill Demonstration A.

Sheets explained that she could choose any job skill to demonstrate, but knew she wanted to do something she learned in her nursing class, so she demonstrated foot care skills.

Job Skill Demonstration A was a similar category, but limited to job skills related to the medical field. Westenskow chose to demonstrate wrapping her thumb for her competition.

"I thought it was cool because it's kind of the only competition out there for medicine," Westenskow said. "Athletics you have meets, games, state, but if you're doing anything medically related you just do it at the school, so it's a chance to get out there and show what you know compared to everybody else. It's really cool."

West competed in Novice Welding, which he explained involves being given a blueprint and Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and having to build a sculpture using multiple types of welds.

Cabinetmaking also involved following instructions to create a specific piece within a time limit. Tirrell explained it was rewarding to see the finished product, while the hardest part was the planning.

"The time limit definitely made it a lot harder because I'm the kind of person that likes to take things slow and make sure I'm doing it right," Tirrell said. "And so it put a lot of pressure on me to just trust in my ability and just go fast."

Another student who had to trust her ability was Frye, who had to plate two identical dishes of chicken, potatoes, breadsticks and a salad for the Culinary Arts competition. Frye also faced the unique challenge of being the first student from GRHS to compete in Culinary Arts at SkillsUSA.

"It was very nerve-wracking but pretty great being the first one, considering how well it went, so I'm pretty proud of it," she said.

Frye has also been selected to represent Wyoming and compete in the National SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta, Georgia in June.

"I did SkillsUSA because I've always been very passionate about my cooking," Frye explained. "I've loved cooking ever since I was little. I've been around it. I work in food. I thought going this year was pretty much a really great opportunity because it could help the culinary department because being the first one really boosted the whole department itself. So it just gives other people the opportunity to go."

Competing at both the state and national level has also given Frye new personal opportunities.

"It definitely opened up another door and another path that I can go and take because I got a scholarship to go to a culinary school," she explained.

Many of the other students who competed in SkillsUSA also felt that the competition gave them new opportunities and new confidence in their abilities.

"It was a new experience to do something without having a rubric to follow," Aragon said. "We just had to use our own knowledge."

"I feel like I've learned independence," Stine agreed.

"I think that it showed me how we really are ready to go into the workforce," Sheets said. "Skills just shows us that we can perform the things we've learned, so that made me feel more ready."

"What I think really benefited me personally was that I saw that there are more competitions or more types of skills that you can actually excel in and be recognized for, other than just sports," Allison said. "A lot of my high school career I've been focused on trying to excel in either academics or sports and get recognized for that, where I can go and do something that I'm passionate about and get the proper recognition for something that isn't as common."

"It's a great thing, like they were saying, to be independent and to not have to rely on people to prove that we're ready for the actual workforce," Tirrell added, "but it's another thing to make sure you're actually prepared yourself for that and actually know what you're doing so you can be a productive member of your workforce."