Students at the Mid-Coast School of Technology did not skip a beat returning to the SkillsUSA Maine Leadership and Skills Conference for the first time since March 2019. SkillsUSA is a national co-curricular organization geared towards connecting students with teachers, industry, and post-secondary institutions to better the workforce in the United States. Every year, Mid-Coast hosts in-house competitions to determine eligibility for the state contest in March. First-place finishers at the state contest move on to compete at the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Like most events in March of 2020, the Maine Leadership and Skills Conference was canceled at the last minute, followed by an abbreviated format in 2021. This year, 22 Maine career and technical schools returned to the traditional 2-day in-person event.
This year Mid-Coast sent 40 students to Bangor for the overnight trip to compete in 22 different competitions ranging from Welding to Culinary to Extemporaneous Speaking. Students worked with their teachers all year to prepare for the competition. Advisors at the school (Brandon Soards, Ellery Chalmers, Miranda Balukas, Lisa Mejias, and Nora Wilson) prepared students, organized fundraising efforts, and created an itinerary for the entire group.
Mid-Coast participated in the Parade of Champions at Opening Ceremonies, where SkillsUSA Executive Director, Chelle Travis, addressed the more than 1,000 Maine CTE students in attendance. Students competed in their events the following day and were awarded medals at the Closing Ceremony. The following medals were awarded at the event:
Gold Medals (1st place in the state)
| EMT (2-person team) | Liam Callahan (CHRHS)Jillian Barnard (OHS) |
| Welding Sculpture | Braden Luce (MVHS) |
| Health Knowledge Bowl (4-person team) | Katrina McIntosh (MVHS)Maggie Gill (CHRHS)Alydia Hatch (OHS)Grace VanBuskirk (OHS) |
| T-shirt Design | Ella Russomano (OHS) |
| CNC 3-axis Milling Programmer | Asa Burgess (CHRHS) |
| Precision Machining | Lawrence Friend (MVHS) |
| Computer Programming | Brooke Vincent (OHS) |
| Digital Cinema(Post-Secondary division) | Ghost Gronros (CHRHS grad)Maddie Johnson (CHRHS grad) |
Silver Medals (2nd place in the state)
| Wedding Cake Decorating(3-person team) | Luisa Couch (CHRHS)Kaila Rogers (CHRHS)Noah Hendry (MVHS) |
| Firefighting | Noah Rousseau (CHRHS) |
| Automotive Services Tech (Post-Secondary division) | Adrian Shorey (OHS grad) |
Bronze Medals (3rd place in the state)
| Firefighting | Taber Twitchell (CHRHS) |
| Computer Programming | Zach Peacock (CHRHS) |
| 3D Visualization & Animation(2-person team) | Amelie Wold (CHRHS) Jacob Murray (CHRHS) |
| Precision Machining (State-only) | Dan Bartlett (CHRHS) |
| Medical Math | Kylie Blake (MVHS) |
| Automotive Collision Refinishing | Kaylee Daniel (MVHS) |
| Automotive Services Tech | Bret Waterman (North Haven) |
| Automotive Services Tech (Post-Secondary division) | Kestin Guinn (OHS grad) |
Students awarded gold medals will begin fundraising to compete at the National Leadership and Skills Conference in June. Last year Mid-Coast sent a team of two for Interactive Application and Video Game Design and a team of four in Health Knowledge Bowl. Both teams finished fourth in their respective competitions, missing the podium by mere points. We are hopeful for another good showing on the national stage for our students. If you are interested in sponsoring any of our students, please contact us at 207-594-2161.
