SkillsUSA

Whittier Students Earn 25 Medals at SkillsUSA State Competition

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Whittier Tech
Maureen Lynch, Superintendent
115 Amesbury Line Road
Haverhill, MA 01830

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Whittier Students Earn 25 Medals at SkillsUSA State Competition

15 Students Moving Onto National Competition

Students from Amesbury, Georgetown, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newburyport and Salisbury Place

HAVERHILL — Superintendent Maureen Lynch is pleased to announce that 25 Whittier Tech students earned medals at the state SkillsUSA competition, with 15 taking home gold and qualifying for the national contest in June.

Ninety-five Whittier students spent many hours planning and preparing to compete in more than 30 contests at the SkillsUSA 45th Annual State Leadership and Skills Conference on April 25-27 in Marlborough.

In addition to the 15 students who won gold medals, four earned silver medals and six received bronze.

Machine Tech freshman Ryan Link, of Haverhill, was elected as a national voting delegate and Dental Assisting junior Lauren Fitzgerald, of Salisbury, was re-elected as a state officer.

“We want to congratulate all Whittier Tech students who participated in the annual SkillsUSA competition,” Superintendent Lynch said. “Students work all year preparing for this event, so to place is a huge accomplishment that illustrates participants’ clear understanding of a subject, critical thinking and creativity.”

The medalists are:

GOLD: Chapter Display
Electrical Technology students: Sophomore Josh Roberts, of Haverhill, senior Kaitlyn Cook, of Haverhill and sophomore Nick Muryn, of Amesbury

GOLD: Career Pathways Showcase: Arts & Communication
Design & Visual Communications students: Senior Rhina Tiburcio, of Haverhill, junior Seda Tuncok, of Haverhill, and junior Zachary DePaolo, of Newburyport. They won for their 2018 animated yearbook.

“It was a good experience, especially socializing with our competition,” Tuncok said. “Even though I’m involved in our school drama productions, public speaking is a lot harder than expected.”

GOLD: Career Pathways Showcase: Business/Management/Technology
Marketing and Business Management students: Junior Halie Alsarabi, senior Josmell Ramos and junior Megan Jegorow, all of Haverhill

GOLD: Career Pathways Showcase: Health Services
Health Occupations students: Senior Allasandra Thompson, of Haverhill, sophomore Vitoria Paiva, of Merrimac, and senior Larissa Havey, of Amesbury

GOLD: Urban Search and Rescue
Electronics/Robotics students: Senior Dylan Grandmaison, of Haverhill, and senior Nolan Turi, of Newburyport

“It was fun to meet all of the people there,” Turi said. Their task was to build a mobile robot to complete specific tasks used by fire, police and military service personnel to secure an area by locating, neutralizing, moving, and disposing of explosive materials. “My advice is to go to Skills and go twice because last year I didn’t place and this year I am going to nationals.”

GOLD: CNC Technician
Machine Technology student: Senior Bryan Richards, of Georgetown

“It’s a great feeling to win,” Richards said. “Preparing for the competition is tough work, but winning makes it worth it.”

SILVER: Commercial Baking
Culinary Arts student: Junior Jillian Marden, of Merrimac

SILVER: HVACR
HVAC student: Senior Samuel Claflin, of Haverhill

SILVER: Community Action Project
Early Education and Care students: Sophomores Sharyn Britton and Victoria Miller, both of Haverhill

BRONZE: Career Pathways Showcase: Human Services
Culinary Arts students: Junior Sydney Stewart, senior Autumn Mulloy and senior Sierra Barry, all of Haverhill

BRONZE: Community Service
Early Education and Care students: Seniors Ashley Greene, of Salisbury, Mackenzie Collins, of Amesbury, and Melissa Cepeda, of Haverhill

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Kearsarge Junior Places 3rd, Wins Scholarship in SkillsUSA Baking Competition

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Kearsarge Regional School District
Superintendent Winfried Feneberg
114 Cougar Court
New London, NH 03257

For Immediate Release

Friday, April 12, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Kearsarge Junior Places 3rd, Wins Scholarship in SkillsUSA Baking Competition

Kearsarge Regional High School junior Olivia Lord, left, stands with her baking instructor, Chef April Hall, after coming in third place at a recent SkillsUSA Commercial Baking Competition. (Courtesy Photo Kearsarge Regional School District)

NEW LONDON – Superintendent Winfried Feneberg is pleased to share that Kearsarge Regional High School junior Olivia Lord placed third in a recent SkillsUSA Commercial Baking Competition. 

Two Kearsarge Regional High School students attended a March 20 SkillsUSA event at Nashua North High School, where two separate competitions were held in the culinary arts and in commercial baking. 

Lord competed in the commercial baking competition, where she was tasked with baking a variety of goods, including muffins, eclairs, cookies, three types of bread, puff pastries and decorated a cake.

Each competition was timed, included a written exam and required students to share their resume. Students were judged on their skills, presentation, sanitation and uniform.

Lord spent significant time preparing for the commercial baking competition, and began staying after school late to practice her skills in November.

“I am incredibly proud of her,” said Chef April Hall, Lord’s baking instructor at Kearsarge High School. “Olivia worked really hard to prepare. It takes dedication to be a part of this. Both students were able to network with various chefs in the industry and meet peers who share their passion for cooking and baking.”

In addition to coming in third place in the commercial baking competition, Lord was given a $1,000 scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America and a $500 scholarship to Johnson and Wales University. 

Lord is currently planning on earning her associate’s degree in the culinary arts at Lakes Region Community College before moving on to pursue her bachelor’s degree. Her grandmother taught her to bake at a young age, and Lord has enjoyed the culinary arts ever since. 

“I have always enjoyed baking and I’m especially thankful to my grandmother who got me into it young,” Lord said. “As a young kid there was no greater pleasure than hearing my grandmother call my name when it was time to bake. My favorite part of baking is that moment when everything comes together and my finished product is even better than I intended.”

Lord plans on competing in next year’s SkillsUSA Commercial Baking Competition as well. 

“This competition was really comprehensive, and challenged students to showcase a wide range of skills in baking, taking written exams, creating a resume, sanitation and presentation,” Superintendent Feneberg said. “Olivia proved herself to be a dedicated, talented young chef, and we look forward to seeing her continue to expand her skills and pursue her passion for the culinary arts.”

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Whittier Tech Students Place in National SkillsUSA Competition

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Maureen Lynch, Superintendent
115 Amesbury Line Road
Haverhill, MA 01830

For Immediate Release

Friday, July 6, 2018

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Whittier Tech Students Place in National SkillsUSA Competition

HAVERHILL — Superintendent Maureen Lynch is pleased to announce that two Whittier Tech teams earned bronze medals at the SkillsUSA national competition last week.

Students who earned gold at the SkillsUSA state competition in April moved onto the national round on June 25-30 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Whittier Tech rising seniors Larissa Havey, of Amesbury, Emily Shal, of Amesbury, and Allasandra Thompson, of Haverhill, earned bronze for their career pathways showcase in health occupations for their “Music and Memory” program, which benefits patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in nursing homes.

“I have never felt so much joy in my life, not only being able to represent my school, but being able to care for these residents. We put so much time and effort in trying to improve their quality of life,” said Havey. “Overall, Kentucky wasn’t about winning. It was about getting to experience this joy and memories with the people.”

Graduating seniors Tyler Paolucci, of Georgetown, Jacklyn Verrette, of Haverhill, and Mackenzie Maguire, of Merrimac, also earned bronze in the career pathways showcase in the industrial and engineering technology cluster for their CAD design of Whittier’s new Allied Health Center.

“I am beyond happy to have placed. When I heard that our team earned bronze, I felt like I was going to the moon I jumped so high,” Paolucci said. “This was a six-month long project and the outcome is amazing. We love Whittier so much and as seniors we wanted to leave our mark on the school somehow, so this new Allied Health Center really has our spin on it.”

During the competition, students presented their projects to a panel of judges and were judged in a number of areas, including speaking skills, community impact, demonstration of technical skills and integration of business and industry.

“The six students who placed in the national competition demonstrated unbelievable teamwork, commitment and passion throughout their projects and over the last several months participating in SkillsUSA,” said Whittier’s SkillsUSA Co-adviser Jane Moskevitz. “Our teams had some stiff competition from 40 other teams and for them to place is reflective of the superb work they completed. They should be proud, and know that they have the academic and technical skills to excel outside of Whittier.”

Rising seniors Kaitlyn Cook, Ethan Rousseau and Adam Bellville — all of Haverhill — also have reason to be proud of their work in the chapter display category. This season marked the first time in 16 years that Whittier entered a team in this section of the competition, with the three earning seventh place out of 44 teams. Projects had to represent this year’s theme — “Job-Ready Day One.”

“Just to make it to nationals is an accomplishment, and these students should be so proud of their hard work,” Moskevitz said. “We’ve learned so much this year just seeing what other teams produced and we’re confident we’ll be back next year.”

SkillsUSA is a partnership of vocational-technical and career students, teachers and industry leaders who work together to promote and ensure a skilled workforce in the U.S. More than 395,000 middle school, high school and college students and professional members are enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

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Whittier Tech Students Place in State SkillsUSA Competition

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Maureen Lynch, Superintendent
115 Amesbury Line Road
Haverhill, MA 01830

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Whittier Tech Students Place in State SkillsUSA Competition

HAVERHILL — Whitter Tech students shined at this year’s statewide SkillsUSA competition, bringing home 14 gold, six silver and six bronze medals.

Also, for the first time in Whittier’s history, a student has been elected as a state officer. Lauren Fitzgerald, a sophomore studying health occupations from Salisbury, earned a spot on the SkillsUSA 2018-19 State Executive Council.

The gold medalists will advance to the national competition on June 25-30 in Louisville, Kentucky. Students were recognized for their accomplishments at Whittier’s annual Advisory Board dinner on May 3, where more than 200 industry and business leaders were in attendance.

“I don’t know if it can get any better than this,” said Whittier’s SkillsUSA Co-adviser Jane Moskevitz. “This is what Whittier is really all about. Our students shined and it was just awesome. They’ve all been working diligently since last year at this. My hope is that this level of success inspires more underclassmen to get involved.”

Ninety-two Whittier students attended the three-day event with 3,000 participants, the largest educational gathering in the state, hosted at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center.

After completing presentations, students were grilled by judges and confidently answered questions about their vocational-technical educations and the impact their careers would have on their communities.

“It was truly a testimony to how hard work really pays off,” Moskevitz said. “I am grateful to the many staff members who helped prepare our students, and my co-adviser Bruce Boisselle for his assistance throughout the event.”

Among the big winners were health occupations students who created a “Music and Memory” program to benefit dementia patients at area nursing homes, CAD students who designed Whittier’s new Allied Health Center and culinary arts students who created “The Energizer” food truck.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of vocational-technical and career students, teachers and industry leaders who work together to promote and ensure a skilled workforce in the U.S. More than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members are enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

Whittier’s student medalists are:

GOLD

  • Senior Nicholas Hardy, Georgetown – Collision Repair
  • Senior Samuel Brindle, Merrimac – CNC Technician
  • Junior Kaitlyn Cook, Haverhill; Junior Ethan Rousseau, Haverhill; Junior Adam Bellville, Haverhill – Chapter Display
  • Junior Allasandra Thompson, Haverhill; Junior Emily Shal, Amesbury; Junior Larissa Havey, Amesbury – Career Pathways Showcase – Health Services Cluster
  • Senior Tyler Paolucci, Georgetown; Senior Jacklyn Verrette, Haverhill; Senior Mackenzie Maguire, Merrimac – Career Pathways Showcase – Industrial & Engineering Technology Cluster
  • Senior Caroline Hailson, Haverhill; Senior Logan Slevoski, Georgetown; Senior Makayla Larochelle, Methuen – Career Pathways Showcase – Natural Resources/Agriculture/ Food Cluster

SILVER 

  • Junior Sarah Cote, Haverhill; Junior Melisa Cepeda, Haverhill; Junior Ashley Greene, Salisbury – Career Pathways Showcase – Human Services Cluster
  • Senior Macy Joubert, Salisbury; Senior Elizabeth Jarmolowicz, Amesbury; Senior Nathaniel Bacon, Haverhill – Career Pathways Showcase – Arts  Communication Cluster

BRONZE

  • Senior Michael McAuliffe, Haverhill; Senior Andrew Buzzell, Merrimac; Senior Thomas Tanzella, West Newbury; Senior Sean Putnam, Ipswich – Team Build
  • Senior Phillip Colladay, Ipswich; Senior Patrick Greenler, Georgetown – Urban Search & Rescue

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