11 liberty cte students to compete in skillsusa state Competition

By Bella Howard

Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses have played a vital role in expanding educational opportunities at Liberty High School in recent years. This year, 11 students qualified for the state competition through SkillsUSA, an extension of these courses that allows students to take a greater leap into the workforce through competition.

This competition showcases advanced development in CTE courses for students like the handful of state qualifiers at Liberty. Students can work in groups or individually to perform job tasks and mock interviews in areas ranging from medical, construction, automotive, electrical and more.

Junior Grant Powell, officer, vice president and treasurer of the Liberty section of SkillsUSA and previous competitor, said, “I found it to be an interesting time where I got to meet people who have been working in the Automotive industry for years and have a lot of guidance and experience to give.” 

To represent Liberty at the state level, students have dedicated time to qualifying, selecting their categories and preparing through pre-tests, mock trials and extra practice in their CTE classes.

Powell explained that he “specializes in Automotive Maintenance and Repair. [He] chose this field because [he] felt like it was an interesting and expanding subject that could provide challenging and fulfilling work and education for [his] future.”

For many of Liberty’s new competitors, the Colorado State Leadership and Skills Conference will be their first opportunity to showcase their talents. Held at the Pueblo Convention Center from April 9-11, the competition will bring together top qualifiers from across the state, all vying for a gold medal and a chance to advance to Nationals.

Resembling Powell, senior William Ensign will represent Liberty in the Automotive Job Interview, in addition to representing the program in officer meetings. This will be his debut competition. He described his goals as “gaining experience in the professional side of the workforce and learning from whatever I can.”

Junior Sean Whalen participated in a similar competition for three previous years in Future Business Leaders of America, sending him to the national competition his freshman year. Whalen is competing in a team event for Teamworks Construction. His group is made up of students from the Construction Tech CTE course, all holding OSHA 10 and HBI Core certificates. 

Whalen shared how a group event strays from individuals because of the specialization of tasks. He explained that he “personally specializes in electrical work. In the crew [he] is great at researching and understanding complex problems. I have developed skills in creating effective systems just like the systems in electrical work.” 

The National SkillsUSA competition is a board of inspiration for all the competitors at Liberty and across the country. “Nationals would all provide us with valuable lessons that would help us in our future. It would also look great for any future jobs we apply to,” Whalen provided. 

The National SkillsUSA organization was founded to provide high qualifications and skills to the future workforce. The courses are used to prepare these skilled competitors for their future in individual “blue-collar” careers. In participating in the state and national levels of this competition, “competitors may earn scholarships, tools of the trade, and even job offers right off the competition floor,” according to the National SkillsUSA committee. 

At the national competition, more than 6,500 state champions from each state will compete in 114 skilled and leadership competitions. This will be held June 25-27 in Atlanta, Georgia.