Students from the Lake City High School Career Center traveled to Greenville to compete in the state’s SkillsUSA competition held April 14-16.
Although most of the events took place at the TD Convention Center, some students also competed at Greenville Technical College. CATE instructors Tonia Wilson, Contessa Bradley, Calvin Cade, and James Baxley traveled with the students and supervised their preparation for these events.
Lake City High School’s CATE department was well represented in several competitions: Kamrynn Bramlett competed in carpentry; Nicholas Brehm, Bryce Gunnels and Gavin James competed in masonry; Kai Brand, Nyberia Gaskins, Jaqawnya McElveen and Bryce Gunnells competed in quiz bowl; Melvon Cooper and Jasmyne Gaskins competed in related technical math; Melanie Farjardo and William Floyd competed in chapter display; Shakeim Washington, Seth Harrelson and Jordan McAllister competed in job skills demonstration; and Dream Moore competed in extemporaneous speaking.
When competitions were completed, LCH brought home four awards. Nicholas Brehm was the first place winner in the masonry competition. As the best masonry student in the state, he received $2,000 in tuition assistance and will travel to the national completion in Louisville, Kentucky, to represent South Carolina. Brehm’s instructor, Calvin Cade, will travel with him to this competition in June.
LCH’s quiz bowl team (Kai Brand, Nyberia Gaskins, Bryce Gunnells, and Jaqawnya McElveen) placed second in the state. Seth Harrelson received a third place medal for his job skills performance, and Melanie Fajardo and William Floyd received third place medals for their chapter display.
CATE Director Leon Burgess said he feels extreme pride when he thinks of these students’ performance. “It is always good to have students who are excited about what they are doing and want to represent your program,” he said, “but it creates a strong sense of pride when students represent their school at the magnitude that these students did.”
LCH Principal Ned Blake expressed his pride in the students’ performance as well. “We always want our students to have hope,” Mr. Blake said. “Because these students have experienced success in their competitions, they can continue to dream big. The CATE program at Lake City High School is a sound, solid program, and I am extremely proud of the manner in which our students represented us.”
SkillsUSA is an organization dedicated to promoting “time, talent and financial resources at all levels (local, district, state and national).