GNTC Students Excel At SkillsUSA Georgia Competition

Georgia Northwestern Technical College students excelled at the 2023 SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference, March 9-11, in Atlanta. GNTC competed in 14 categories and took home five gold medals and one silver medal.

State gold medal winners will represent GNTC and the State of Georgia in the national contest June 19-23 in Atlanta.

GNTC also won the third place award for largest overall membership (160 members total) and was recognized as a Quality Chapter, Chapter Excellence Program Level 1.

“I am so proud of our students and advisors,” said Missy McLain, SkillsUSA advisor for GNTC. “It is great to see our students attend and excel in their competition events. Each student went into their contest and gave it their all.”

The students tested their abilities in trade, technical, skilled service and health occupations. GNTC sent three teams to the competition; most GNTC contestants competed in individual events.

According to SkillsUSA, the organization serves more than 331,000 students and instructors annually and has served nearly 14 million annual members since 1965. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor recognize SkillsUSA as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.

Twenty-six students represented GNTC at the competition.

Listed below are the gold and silver medalists including the student’s name, competition and county of residence. Team competitions are listed with the competition name first:

Gold
• Jacquelyn Beck, Medical Assisting, Polk
• Ashley Elliott, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) 3-Axis Milling Programmer, Walker
• Johncarlos “Paul” Gerrero, Carpentry, Gordon
• Caden Smith, Industrial Motor Controls, Chattooga
• TeamWorks (team competition): Alexis Bautista, Whitfield; Christopher Herrera, Whitfield; Garrett Knight, Bartow; and Kevin Mateo, Floyd

Silver
• Landon Stephens, Electrical Construction Wiring, Chattooga