News & Events

Mitchell—Mitchell Technical Institute’s delegation of eight students fared well at the recent National SkillsUSA Championships held in Louisville, KY, June 20-24.  Contestants competed in seven skills areas.  Students placing in their contest areas included:

6^th place              Nick Cundy                      Mitchell                          Electrical Construction Wiring

10^th place           Kelly Gillis                       Aberdeen                      Marine Service

11^th place           John McNaughton     Vermillion                     T-Shirt Design

16^th place           Ty Hamilton                   Spearfish                       Information Technology Service

16^th place           Aaron Herman             Ferney                             Motorcycle Service

24^th place           Lexy Gimbel                   Miller                               Culinary Arts

25^th place           Shayla Eastman          Brandon                         Commercial Baking

Students earned the right to compete when they won first place in their respective contests at the South Dakota SkillsUSA contest held in April.  They were accompanied by advisors Jason Juhnke, Justin Hauge and Rayne Guindon.

South Dakota was also represented by national vice-president Jean Van Driel Crawford from MTI.

During their stay, students participated as competitors or as voting delegates, electing national officers for the upcoming year and conducting the business of the organization. Students also met with business and industry representatives and heard from government officials. There were several social and recreational activities for the delegates, as well.

The SkillsUSA Championships, at which more than 6,000 students compete in 100 occupational and leadership skill areas, is held in conjunction with the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, attended by more than 16,000 people. 

SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves technical, skilled and service occupation instructional programs in public high schools, career and technical centers and schools and two- and four-year colleges. SkillsUSA annually serves more than 320,000 student members annually, organized into more than 3,900 schools and 52 state and territorial associations (including the Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and is cited as a successful model of employer-driven youth development training program by the U.S. Department of Labor.