Georgia placed second in the U.S. for the number of medals awarded at the SkillsUSA national competition in Louisville, Ky. Georgia middle school, high school, and technical college students who progressed to the 2019 SkillsUSA National Conference, after winning at the state-level competition, brought home a combined total of 72 medals.

“Every year, Georgia’s technical college students get the opportunity to demonstrate their skills to a national audience at the SkillsUSA National Competition,” said Matt Arthur, Commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia. “We are extremely proud of our students for their achievements as they represent the skilled workforce we develop every day for Georgia’s businesses and industries.”

The top three TCSG college winners were Gwinnett Technical College and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College with 13 medals each, followed by Ogeechee Technical College with seven medals. The Dr. John Scott Award for highest scoring individual competitor in Georgia Postsecondary went to Foster Lester from Atlanta Technical College in the Job Interview contest. The Curtiss Bell Award for highest scoring team competitors in Georgia Postsecondary went to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies team—Abigale Baluta, Juan Islas, Ashley Palomino, Justin Perez, Jacqueline Sisley, Madison Thorpe, and Mikael Yoftahe—from Gwinnett Technical College.

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College was also named one of the 24 Model of Excellence chapters nationwide, for the second year in a row. The SkillsUSA National Model of Excellence program recognizes the exceptional integration and application of personal, workplace, and technical skills for SkillsUSA chapter activities. Specifically, Wiregrass Georgia Technical College was selected as one of eight chapters to represent personal skills and participated in several activities during the national conference to recognize their work, including a special recognition dinner with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Mick Zais and Cierra Mitchell from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship.