Illinois Students Crowned National Champions, Top Finishers in Workforce Development Career Competition

Illinois has a new set of national champions, with young people who have turned their SkillsUSA Illinois experience into the best preparation for success in heavy equipment operation, architectural drafting, cyber security and more in career and technical education and workforce development.

A record 100 students from SkillsUSA Illinois finished in the top 10 at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, held from June 24-28 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Students from 26 Illinois schools competed in a massive Championships session: 115 national career competitions featuring 6,647 students in a competition area of 1.79 million square feet (31 football fields, or 41 acres).

The SkillsUSA Illinois top competitors earned 26 medals against the best national competition, including eight gold medals as national champions.

Local participating schools included the Kankakee Area Career Center in Bourbonnais and both Peotone High School and Peotone Junior High School.

Congratulations to PHS students Augustyn Price (Robotics: Urban Search and Rescue), who was awarded eighth place, and Xavier Villalobos (Robotics: Urban Search and Rescue), also in eighth place

Congratulations also are in order for PJHS students: Kaleb Schirmer (Team Engineering Challenge), second place; Kohen Schirmer (Team Engineering Challenge), second place; Quinn McCleverty (Team Engineering Challenge), second place; plus Jaida DeMoss (Prepared Speech), sixth place.

All of the SkillsUSA Illinois first competed at local and regional levels, then advanced to the state championships in Peoria in late April. Illinois brought more than 300 students from the state championships to Atlanta for the national competition.

Like the state championships, the national competition tests students’ skills and preparation as the culmination of a year of hands-on career and technical education (CTE). Industry partners, trade associations, and labor organizations volunteer to judge career competitions where students lay bricks, repair engines, practice hairdressing, and much more competing against the clock and their counterparts from schools across Illinois and, ultimately, across the country.

SkillsUSA programming is supported by a state grant under the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship program. Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved $10 million in extra funding in the state budget that took effect in July, and SkillsUSA Illinois expects to use new funding to expand its successful programming into new schools and communities starting this fall.

For SkillsUSA Illinois’ leadership, the Atlanta visit is a chance to both celebrate students’ hard work and the exciting progress Illinois is making to invest in young people’s career success.

“We are ecstatic to see the tremendous results of our students and to have so many perform at the top of their fields against thousands of their peers from across the United States,” SkillsUSA Illinois Executive Director Eric Hill said. “Regardless of their field of study, our students have shown a determination and passion to perform under pressure that will open many doors for them to succeed, hopefully right here in Illinois. We thank Gov. Pritzker, the Legislature, and our many partners in Illinois – from Caterpillar and the City of Peoria, to our employers and labor organizations – who wholeheartedly support our mission and help us reach more students to provide more life-changing opportunities. The SkillsUSA experience is thriving and growing, and we are excited for what is ahead.”