Springfield-Clark CTC students attend regional training, receive medals

“We couldn’t be more proud of all five of our students on the way that they represented The Springfield-Clark CTC, the SkillsUSA State and Regional Chapters and themselves,” said Michael Rice, Associate Schools Coordinator.

Newly elected officers Diego Martinez, a Tecumseh junior in the Health Occupations program, and Hailey Neer, a Northeastern junior in the Computer Graphic Arts program, who were elected into office as SkillsUSA Southwest Regional Officers last November were the focus of the training.

Jaime Botello, a Tecumseh senior in Electrical Trades, Leah Shafer, a Tecumseh senior in Nurse Assisting, and Xzavyier Mines, a Springfield senior in Engineering & Architectural Design, also attended as SkillsUSA State Officers and helped with the training.

The newly elected regional officers from all six regions of Ohio worked on team building, leadership skills, presentations and opening ceremonies at the training. They also visited the state capital where they met with state representatives and the Veterans Memorial and Museum.

After the training, all six regions gave their advocacy and goodwill presentations, 60-second elevator speech and conducted the SkillsUSA opening and closing ceremony to a team of advisors and judges.

The advisors and state SkillsUSA staff also observe the officers and note who is stepping up to be leaders of each of the regions, and Neer was selected as the Southwest Regional President.

The Southwest Regional Officers including Martinez, Neer and four other students from the Southwest region were awarded medals at the training such as the bronze medal for third place in the goodwill presentation, a silver medal for second place in opening and closing ceremony, and a gold medal for first place in the advocacy presentation. Neer also received a gold medal for first place in the individual elevator speech.

All five CTC students — Martinez, Neer, Botello, Shafer and Xzavyier — earned their “Statesman Award,” which is the highest award you can earn at the regional officer training.