Almost Over!

It hardly seems possible, but our week of competing, networking, and learning is almost over. From the Opening Ceremony to tonight's World's of Fun, the trip has been amazing. We had a great flight in to KC. We settled in on Monday and met others from Indiana at a dinner and celebration. Tuesday began orientation meetings where each competitor received additional instructions and advice regarding their competitions. Well organized and professional, the competitors were celebrated as true champions for making it to this level of competition.

On Tuesday evening we were a part of a record breaking Opening Ceremony as all advisors, competitors, and SkillsUSA staff member sat in Kemper Arena to kick off the 45th National Leadership and Skills Conference. With exciting lighting effects, energetic music, and a variety of guest speakers, over 11,000 Skills members cheered on the successes of the past and prospects of the future. Lowes donated 1.5 million to SkillsUSA while guest speakers including Jimmy Johnson promoted the works and value of the organization. It was hard to go away without being left impressed.

Wednesday morning the Community Service team of Jacob Turner (HVAC), Patrick Park (HVAC), and Melissa Spurrier (Law Enforcement), competed and did a fabulous job of sharing their cemetary restoration project with the judges. They were cool, calm, and collected in their presentation, clearly making a connection as the judges laughed and praised their work. Also on Wednesday, our Computer Repair competitor, Andrew Patrick, participated in an excrusiating 8 plus hour session. Wednesday ended with a party for the students downtown.

On Thursday the Crime Scene Investigation team of Alyssa Spratt, Cesar Marmolejo, and Katie Myers sat and waited for almost three hours before they worked a crime scene gathering evidence and then processing the findings complete with a report. Onlookers had to be impressed with their intensity and focus. Their advisor, Mr. Gullion, was on pins and needles watching, but couldn't have been more proud of his students and their performance. Also, Andrew had three more hours of competing today passing both parts of the the A+ certification test. Despite A.J.'s premiere acting, Mr. Hettenvan knew that A.J. was pulling his leg when he claimed that he failed by 9 or so points.

Today is almost over. The students and Mr. Hettenvan all went to the World's of Fun amusement park. Smaller than King's Island, it is certain that they will have a great evening now that all of their competing is over and they can relax.

Just a quick note of thanks to several friends of our SkillsUSA team:

• Wayne Township School Board for allowing us to take this trip
• Mr. Ron Hoke and Ms. Lizzy Perez for supporting and helping to financially back this trip
• Mr. Roger Park for transporting our projector to Kansas City
• Mr. Hettenvan and Mr. Gullion for coming to KC to be a part of this event
• All the parents of our competitors for allowing your student to be a part of this tremendous opportunity; thank you for sharing your child with us!
• All of the student competitors for being such impressive role models and giving up part of their summer to be here

As a personal note, we really have had a great trip. These students have made this very enjoyable, and they have made all three of the advisor very proud. They have proudly represented BDHS, Area 31 Career Center, and their home school. :-)

We will post the results tomorrow when we find out. It will be late. We will be leaving KC around 8:00 on Saturday. Check the Southwest website to check our exact arrival time.

Debbie Montgomery