Current News and Upates

July 2025 SkillsUSA Special Update

We are very pleased and proud to share that Scott Holmes finished sixth in the nation at this year's SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta!

The competition was very tough however, Scott did extremely well at each of the 13 stations that tested his technical knowledge and mechanical skills. There were 31 high school and 44 post-secondary competitors in total, representing all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Scott could not have made us more proud, as his family and I watched him maintain composure and put forth 100% effort in all of his work throughout the week at nationals. His top ten finish was announced at the Maryland celebration ceremony on our last night in Atlanta. Scott had an amazing week overall at nationals. He was able to network with many different employers and vendors, see a moving public presentation on the state of the trades in America by Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe Works Foundation), experience Atlanta attractions, and cap off his week with an outstanding competition finish. You couldn't wipe the smile off Scott's face all week!!!

Scott was also blessed by being selected to receive a tool box package supplied by United Rentals and Gearwrench which consisted of a roller cabinet full of tools!!!

Thank you so much for continued support from everyone involved in our program, which provides opportunities for our students to compete in SkillsUSA, and enables us to have a top level program capable of training students to achieve their goals. To date the CCST Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Program has had; 2 national SkillsUSA competitors, 4 MD state SkillsUSA medalists, 5 regional SkillsUSA medalists, and 1 Pennsylvania College of Technology Diesel Competition medalist.

May 2025

May has been an extremely action packed month around here as usual, with spring events, certification testing, and graduation.

Saturday, May 3rd, CCST hosted our 3rd annual Spring Showcase which featured many of our programs on display to the public, alongside of our car, truck, and tractor vehicle show. This year was another huge success for our program as our students educated the visitors about the work and certifications that our students achieve, while at the same time our students provided vehicle parking and other logistics to ensure that the event ran smoothly. New this year for the vehicle show, our students handmade trophies for the best in show winners in three show categories. Thank you so much to the businesses that joined in the vehicle show with us, Carter Machinery, Allan Myers, Craigtown Towing, York Building Products, Ryder System Inc., Wafflin' Joe Food Truck, and Almighty Mobile Detailing. 

Tuesday, May 20th, this year's SkillsUSA medal earners were recognized by the Cecil County Council at the County Administrative Building in Elkton.

Tuesday, May 27th sixteen talented senior class students officially graduated from the program. This year's senior class was the most successful group so far in terms of program achievements. 

• All sixteen passed ASE Entry-Level Medium/Heavy Duty Truck Certification testing in five testing categories: Air and Hydraulic Brakes, Steering and Suspension, Diesel Engines, Electrical/Electronic Systems, and Inspection Maintenance Minor Repair.

• Fifteen of the students successfully earned the EPA 609 Refrigerant Certification and the AED Foundation Career Readiness Certification. 

• Two are entering the military, one in the Air Force and one in the Marines. 

• One is going on to further his education in Heavy Truck repair at the University of Northwestern Ohio, with a focus on the Volvo/Mack DATE program. 

• Another is also continuing his education with a focus on heavy equipment repair at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. 

• The remaining senior year students have all been successfully hired into industry. 100% placement!

We are overwhelmed with pride and joy in their accomplishments and the bright futures in store for this amazingly hard-working group of young people.

Our junior class has successfully navigated their first year of career training and they are nearing the last day of school, June 13, 2025. First year students have dedicated themselves to career training units of study on; Shop Safety, Tools/Measurements and Equipment, Electrical/Electronic Systems, Air/Hydraulic Brakes, and Steering/Suspension. The juniors are wrapping up the year learning Hunter computerized alignment which, new this year, can finally result in a Hunter Alignment Certification. Twenty junior year students achieved S/P-2 Med/Heavy Truck Shop Safety certification, which includes key safety training on; accident prevention, SDS, LOTO, fire prevention and classifications, compressed gas safety, and forklift safety. Thank you again to York Building Products for the CAT DP-40 forklift and Terex TH1056 telehandler both of which support the equipment safety training portions of this training unit and certification testing. A huge thank you as well to Ryder System Inc. for loaning new model year class 8 trucks to us for our students to gain exposure to tire pressure monitoring and ADAS technologies that are integral for their career training.

March 2025

The CCST Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Repair Program (CVHER) has had another very successful year competing in the SkillsUSA Diesel Equipment Technology competition series. Beginning with the Maryland Region 2 competition back on February 22nd, six talented young men proved their technical knowledge and mechanical abilities, earning high marks from the competition judges. Three CCST CVHER students earned the top three spots and their right to compete at the Maryland SkillsUSA State Competition; Scott Holmes (Gold), Eric Reynolds (Silver), Matthew Ricketts (Bronze)

Scott, Eric, and Matthew all displayed their strong technical abilities at the Maryland SkillsUSA State Competition on Saturday, March 29, 2025. Each excelled in their own way throughout the state competition, which included 16 tough challenge stations ranging from; brake and wheel end work to vehicle electrical troubleshooting, and more. Feedback received from the state judges included very high praise for these young men, not just their mechanical skill levels, but also their top notch professionalism during the entirety of the competition. 

Senior, Scott Holmes earned the highest honor of the day, achieving the gold medal and the honor of representing the state of Maryland at the 2025 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, scheduled for June 23-27, in Atlanta, Georgia! 

We are so proud of all of our SkillsUSA Diesel Technology competitors!

Since the first year we competed in SkillsUSA Diesel Technology back in 2023, the CCST Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Equipment program has had Maryland State Competition Gold and Bronze medal winners (2023), silver and bronze Regional medal winners and a state silver medal winner (2024) and as stated above this year's medal winners. All of these successful medal recipients excelled in their competitions thanks to their hard work and the high caliber training that they received here in our program. 

CCST, as a whole, has had numerous career program student SkillsUSA medal recipients over the years, a testament to the high quality career education CCST students receive here.

Hard work continues everyday in the the CVHER classroom and shop by our dedicated students in both the senior and junior classes. These fine young people are honing their mechanical skills and technical knowledge to be future SkillsUSA competitors and skilled tradespeople. 

The CVHER program was once again blessed by our dedicated business partners, as we received several donations of much needed shop supplies, and a Caterpillar forklift to support our student hydraulic equipment training. Thank you so much to; York Building Products, Chesapeake Service Center, Bayshore Truck Center, and Hoober Inc. for the recent donations!!!!!

January 2025

The new year has begun along with new career skills being developed in the classes. During this first month of the year; senior class students spent time learning about diesel powered vehicle emissions and aftertreatment systems and diesel engine fuel systems, junior year students spent time solidifying their understanding on vehicle electrical/electronic systems and are starting into the air/hydraulic brake unit of study.

November 2024

The month of November flew by with our regular schedule of classroom and shop technical training, while at the same time organizing and participating in our third annual "CCST Stuff the Bus" canned food drive. Our program students worked in combination with donation efforts from the entire school population (students and staff) to collect food and goods to help our community. 

It is impossible to express in words the sincere gratitude that is felt for your amazing generosity, hard work, and compassion demonstrated through your support of our community during this year's CCST Stuff the Bus food drive campaign. 

Since its inception in 2022, Stuff the Bus has received steady increases to the amount of donations each year. This year marked a new incredibly high level of overall items brought in thanks to your compassion, and your dedication to being good stewards for our community.. 

As a result of your efforts the Ray of Hope Mission Center in Port Deposit, and the Help Center in Elkton received an equal split of the total 3,326 items you supplied this year!!! 

Those items weigh in at almost 2 tons of non-perishable food and personal care items!!! These two amazing organizations are positioned well at opposite ends of our county, so that our donations can have the most positive impact for residents in multiple zip codes. Feedback from these charitable organizations reinforces the importance of this event, as their food pantries will be restocked from critically low levels, thanks to our donations.

The Stuff the Bus campaign was born from student input in the Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Repair (formerly Diesel Tech) Program. A simple but impactful idea to use our program's retired school bus as a tool to help those in our county struggling with food insecurity. Funny to think that this old bus is still serving the county even in its retirement stage, as a repair vehicle for our technicians in training, and during this event as a food donation central point.

The bus is only a collection point, and the original idea to gather canned goods would have gone by the wayside if not for those students before you. You all can take pride in not just continuing this important annual event, but also in how you have expanded the level of community support Stuff the Bus can provide. This year marked an absolutely amazing new level of total items, eclipsing previous years by over 1,000 items, thanks to your compassion and giving.

Every morning announcement at CCST includes our main motto, Expect success at CCST, Certification, Citizenship, Skills, and Technology. You all are shining examples of citizenship and we are so proud of your hard work in service to our community.

A huge THANK YOU! goes out as well to the community members that joined in with CCST donation efforts through public drop off to our school. We are so grateful for your support of our school and your partnership to ensure this event had a huge positive impact on others lives.

The Commercial Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Repair Program is also excited to celebrate three of this year's senior class students that were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society. We are also thrilled to have been able to honor one of the program's alumni, 2022 graduate Mr. Zach Holbrook as an NTHS Honorary Business Leader. Well deserved recognition all around for these fine young men and the hard work they put into their technical education, as well as the hard work that continues once they enter the workforce.