Bristol-Plymouth Class of 2022 graduate Tess Brunelle, who won a gold medal at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School) 
Bristol-Plymouth Class of 2022 graduates Tess Brunelle and Joseph Giuffre at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School)
TAUNTON — Superintendent-Director Dr. Alexandre Magalhaes, Principal Karen Guenette and Vocational Technical Coordinator Jackie Machamer are pleased to share that a Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School student took home a gold medal at the national SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Conference last month.
Three Bristol-Plymouth students and two staff members attended the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 20-24. Students from across the country who earned gold medals at State Conferences earlier this year had the opportunity to compete on the national level.
Tess Brunelle, a member of Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School’s Class of 2022 who studied cosmetology, won the gold medal in the Esthetics category.
In order to win gold, Brunelle had to complete a day of briefing, a written exam, and three timed challenges, including a massage facial, a daytime or evening makeup look and a makeup look with a fantasy theme. She chose to do an Ursula-inspired look from “The Little Mermaid.”
“On behalf of Bristol-Plymouth, we want to congratulate Tess for winning gold at the SkillsUSA conference,” said Bristol-Plymouth’s SkillsUSA advisor Dave Wallace. “A lot of hard work goes into preparing for this event and we are very proud of all that Tess has accomplished as well as all of our students who competed in Atlanta last month.”
Emily Rouleau, a rising junior in the Bristol-Plymouth cosmetology program, served as Brunelle’s model for the competition.
Joseph Giuffre, another 2022 graduate, competed in Information Technology Services at SkillsUSA Nationals. Giuffre placed in the top 20.
“Congratulations to all those who competed at the SkillsUSA conference,” said Superintendent Magalhaes. “Competing on the national level with students from across the country is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, and the knowledge that they gain through their studies at Bristol-Plymouth. Our students and advisors should be very proud of their showing through SkillsUSA this year.”
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of positions go unfilled.
Through SkillsUSA’s championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has more than 366,000 annual paid members nationwide in high schools, colleges, and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. With the addition of its alumni, membership last year was 427,432. The nonprofit has served nearly 14 million members since 1965.
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