West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) students, faculty, and staff joined other technical colleges from across the state to compete at the 2023 SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference, March 9 – 11, in Atlanta. The students had a solid performance, bringing back bronze medals in three of the five categories they competed in.

The SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference is an annual event that features the best of the best from across Georgia and allows students the opportunity to put their technical skills to the test in over 70 career competitions. Simultaneously, students sharpen their workplace and technical skills in leadership training, state officer elections, and more.

Nine WGTC students showed off their skills at this year’s conference, competing in the areas of Industrial Motor Control, Medical Terminology, Extemporaneous Speaking, Mechatronics, and Health Knowledge Bowl.

The following students received bronze medals for their performance:

· Extemporaneous Speaking: Jennifer Sampson, Douglas County
· Mechatronics: Nicholas Caldwell, Troup County; and Joseph Gibbs, Harris County
· Health Knowledge Bowl (team competition): Abby House, Carroll County; Victoria Frater, Cobb County; Jenn Littrell-Allen, Coweta County; and Mackenzie Crowder, Carroll County. (Alternates were Alex Louis and Melissa Somersale)

Also representing WGTC were Coweta County resident Louis Owen in Industrial Motor Control and Douglas County resident Emma Dimperio in Medical Terminology.

"I am so incredibly proud of our students,” WGTC SkillsUSA advisor Beverly Kirk said. “They were all new to the SkillsUSA competition and performed as seasoned competitors. West Georgia Tech’s students, faculty and programs were well represented.”

SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves more than 300,000 students and instructors annually. More than 1,000 business, industry and labor sponsors actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor recognize SkillsUSA as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.

For more information about WGTC’s SkillsUSA chapter, visit www.westgatech.edu/skills-usa/

West Georgia Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson and Troup counties and class sites in Heard and Meriwether counties, offers more than 120 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Georgia Tech is one of the largest of the state’s 22 technical colleges. For more information, please visit westgatech.edu.