Students from the Batavia and Mount Morris Career and Technical Education (CTE) Centers recently traveled to Alfred State College to compete in the regional SkillsUSA competition held across the college’s Alfred and Wellsville campuses. The event provided students the opportunity to demonstrate the technical and professional skills they have developed through their CTE programs while gaining valuable hands-on experience.
Students from both campuses competed in a variety of contests including Auto Technology, Welding, Cosmetology (Junior and Senior), Criminal Justice, and Crime Scene Investigation.
Mount Morris cosmetology students had three competitors at the event. Sakora Dean-Cox competed in the Cosmetology Junior competition. Although she is a senior this year, Dean-Cox is a first-year cosmetology student, which allowed her to compete at the junior level. Kayla Bird competed in the Cosmetology Senior competition, showcasing her hairstyling skills, including a mannequin design featuring teal and purple hair coloring. Paige Roberts served as the SkillsUSA Vice President Delegate and also ran for the New York State SkillsUSA Officer Team. While she was not elected during this round, Roberts delivered an outstanding campaign and plans to run again at the State Conference in April. All three cosmetology students plan to compete again at the SkillsUSA State Competition, which will be held in April at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The Mount Morris Crime Scene Investigation team also earned an impressive fourth place finish in their competition.
Students from the Batavia campus competed in several criminal justice-related events. Misael Flores, Kyeshaun Blue, and Zayda Reyes competed in the Crime Scene Investigation contest, which required them to process a crime scene from start to finish by collecting and analyzing evidence. Carrie Harris and Leah Amend competed in the Criminal Justice competition where they demonstrated skills including room clearing, searching for evidence, handcuffing techniques, fingerprint lifting, and completing a written exam.
Additional Batavia students assisted with event security. Mono Clark, Natalie Royse, and Addisyn Van Dorn helped ensure that only individuals with proper identification were allowed into the building and were periodically tested by staff to confirm procedures were being followed. In total, the Batavia campus brought seven students to compete and three students to assist with security, while the Mount Morris campus brought twelve students to compete and one student to assist with security.
Participation in SkillsUSA allows students to apply what they have learned in the classroom while building confidence and professional skills as they prepare for future careers. Both campuses are looking forward to continuing their success as students prepare for the SkillsUSA State Competition in Syracuse this April.