Students Earn Awards, Career Path Preparation at SkillsUSA Workforce Championships

PEORIA – They poured concrete to lay bricks. They built tiny buildings, repaired diesel engines, and raced the clock and each other to be the best at more than 150 events – and they just might have found their successful career path in the process.

Students from Chicago’s northern suburbs to deep Southern Illinois arrived in Peoria April 25 for the SkillsUSA Illinois 2024 Championships, determined to prove they could be the best at approximately 150 competitions showcasing their hard work in workforce career development during the past school year. Some left the event April 27 with awards for their winning work, but all put themselves in position to be winners in their career field.

The Championships again were sponsored by Caterpillar Inc. and the City of Peoria, as thousands filled the Peoria Civic Center for a three-day celebration of students’ and schools’ commitment to career and technical education (CTE). The annual event – held in some form for 60 years now through SkillsUSA – is made possible by hundreds of industry partners, trade associations, and labor organizations, who volunteer countless hours to judge the competitions as students race against the clock and each other to prove their expertise in manufacturing, electronics, computer-aided drafting, culinary arts, construction, hospitality, human services, and much more.

Winners of the statewide Championships now will go on to compete in the national SkillsUSA Championships this June in Atlanta, Georgia. More information is available at https://www.skillsusaillinois.org/the-championships.

For SkillsUSA Illinois, the event is a true celebration of each school’s year tireless work to help students learn the hard and soft skills they need to succeed in dozens of fields and is a reminder of the work ahead to expand these opportunities to more students and help more employers.

SkillsUSA programming is supported by a state grant under the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship program. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed a $10 million increase in CTE funding for next year, and Skills will be advocating for that and other CTE expansion opportunities in the final weeks of the Legislature’s spring session. State Sen. Dave Koehler and State Rep. Travis Weaver, both of the Peoria area, were on hand to watch the competitions.

“Each year, the Championships remind us just how lucky we are – to have so many students, advisors, and team members who fully buy in to our mission to help connect employers with the future skilled workforce, in addition to so many supportive families, volunteers, industry partners, and sponsors, such as Caterpillar and the City of Peoria, who know how important our work is for today and tomorrow,” said SkillsUSA Illinois Executive Director Eric Hill.

“We hope the local legislators who attended can work with us to build on our momentum with more support for CTE programming, and that our students will run full speed ahead in their career paths with the support and confidence from the SkillsUSA experience.”

The following local schools and students participated in the championships.

•Kankakee Area Career Center: First – Brayden Douglas and Nelson Middlebrook; fifth – Maiya Ward; seventh – Melanie Aleman, Adriana Cabrera, Hunter Hull, and Stefani Aguilera; eighth – Drew Devore, Addison McCrary, and Hayley Wurster; ninth – Ryder Greenholt, Rodrigo Martinez Jr., and Grant Sheely; 10th – Sofia Ramirez, Treyson Schoon, Hannah Thiele, Gabe Earsley, Karmen Cody, and Ethan LaFlamme.

•Lincoln-Way East: First – Addison Gast, Jamison O’Sullivan, and Marlee Tracy; second – Francisco Piedra, fourth – Alex Jacobson; eighth – Mikey Ball, Dylan Finney, and Jack Mularz; and 10th – Alex Jacobson.

•Lincoln-Way West: First – Jenna Cronk, Ryan Dennison, and Matt Reid; seventh – Zack Daletski, Jackson MacFarlane, and Luke Trusty.

•Peotone High School: First – Augustyn Price and Xavier Villalobos; fourth – George Dalen; fifth – Reganne Price; sixth – Joshua Dalen; seventh – George Dalen, Finnigan Malloy, Colin McCleverty, Andrew Morales, Franco Perez, and Reganne Price; ninth – Andrew Morals; and 10th – George Dalen.

•Peotone Junior High: First – Jaida DeMoss and Shane Lynch; second – Jaida DeMoss; third – Kaleb Schirmer, Kohen Schirmer, Sophia Stachniak, and Logan Cowger; fourth – Emerson Gall, Benjamin Johnson, Carter Mather, and Sophia Stachniak; sixth – Asher Brandau, Quinn McCleverty, and Thomas Zdznicki; and seventh – Logan Cowger, Jaida DeMoss, and Shane Lynch.