For the first time in a few years, Greene County High School sent a SkillsUSA team to the state competition. 

Advisor Ethan Martin says seven students attended the State Leadership and Skills Conference last week, where they went up against 900 other high school students from across the state. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the students competed in Construction Teamwork, Electrical Construction Wiring, Cabinet Making and Power Equipment Technology, where Yaakov Gehling took second place and won some hand tools. 

Junior Malachi Hinote and Wesley Fiedler were part of the four person team for the Construction Teamwork. Hinote explains their two-day project was building two walls that included one window and one door with plywood and exterior wrapping, with a small stair case and basic plumbing and electrical work. While they didn’t place in the top two, Hinote talks about some real world challenges their team had to overcome.

“We were in a tiny space with 15 other groups. So you had to really, really rely on your other teammates to make sure things aren’t falling, got to stay organized because that space was very, very small and hard to work in. Very frustrating at times.”   

Fiedler jokingly said one of the reasons why he joined the SkillsUSA team was to attend conferences and events during the school day, along with some other reasons.

“Honestly, the aspect of being able to pursue and continue to do more hands-on industrial tech. That really intrigued me as I love to work on hands-on projects and all sorts of stuff. Just something to get out of schoolwork mainly, but also to learn more in real world, hands-on activities.” 

Martin adds that their chapter also received the Chapter of Excellence Award, which was only one of six chapters to earn that honor. He is incredibly excited for next year as there are no seniors on this year’s team.