Chattooga SkillsUSA Students Win Big!

Published with permission of the Indian Lore

Article by: Lela Hughes, Editor

Chattooga High School is extremely excited to congratulate our SkillsUSA winners. Twelve students traveled to Polk County College and Career Academy in Cedartown to compete in the Northwest Georgia Skills Challenge on November 2. This competition was sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Georgia, Inc. and Duffey Southwest Construction. The students competed in Carpentry, Electrical, Plumbing, Teamworks, Masonry and Welding competitions. The competitions each had a time limit of two and a half hours. The “Teamworks” team, consisting of Brittonie Cordle, Isaac Rutledge, Caden Smith, and Landon Stephans, won first place in their competition. For the competition, the team had to layoutthe foundation, cut and construct a floor and wall frame, build a roof structure, and complete the electrical, which included two GFCI receptacles, a three way switch and lights. For their first place win, the team received gold medals, hard hats and rolling toolboxes. When asked what advice she would give a student competing in this area, Brittonie Cordle stated ”Work really hard, and believe in yourself.“ Lorianna Beech also competed, winning 2nd place in the carpentry competition. She had to complete a layout and cut and construct a floor and wall frame. Lorianna stated, ”I was excited and impressed with myself.  I was the only girl and I got second place. I was overwhelmed and very proud of myself.“ Lorianna was awarded a silver medal and a new Estwing framing hammer. Gavin Jarrett was one of two students from Chattooga competing in the welding competition. Gavin won 2nd place in this competition. Gavin stated ”Strive to achieve what you want, always be the best you can possibly be, don’t doubt yourself.” Gavin received a gold medal. Lastly, Tristan Price won 1st place in the electrical competition. Tristan installed a breaker/circuit panel, a single pole switch, a light, a GFCI receptacle, a three way switch and a four way switch.  For placing first in the competition, Tristan was awarded a gold medal, a Klein pouch with tools, $100 cash and a scholarship for two years tuition and books to Independent Electrical Contractors College.  When asked what advice he would give other students thinking about competing he stated, ”Don’t give up, strive for what you want until you accomplish it.” Other students competing were Jackson Eckroat and James Wester in Masonry; Jesse Weeks in Plumbing; Webb Wyatt in Carpentry; and William Elrod in Welding.

At the end of the awards ceremony, there was a recognition of the schools accumulating the most points for their overall scores. Chattooga High School competitors were awarded the Gold Cup for being the “Overall Winners” at the competition, having the most points of any school competing. Bengi Price, Construction Instructor, and Jeff Owings, Welding Instructor, both stated they were very proud of each student who competed. Congratulations to all of these students for their hard work and great accomplishments.