Three RLC students headed to SkillsUSA Nationals; 12 more win medals, certificates at State competition

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (April 21, 2014) - Rend Lake College students brought home three first-place medals and several other wins from the 50^th annual Illinois SkillsUSA competition held in early April in Springfield.

SkillsUSA Advisor Kevin Weston said the competitions are open to any student who wants to compete, all they need to do is join the club on campus and qualify during a written exam. The state competition is a hands-on application of the same skills. This year, RLC students took part in the Architectural CAD Drafting, Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, Technical CAD Drafting, and Welding contests. Governor Pat Quinn welcomed the competitors during an opening ceremony before the students got to work in their own categories.

“In every contest we participated, we have a medal winner, which is really good. We’ve never done that before,” said Weston. “This year we have three Rend Lake students who will go on to Nationals. We go to Nationals almost every year, but we’ve never had a student go on to World Skills. This year, Architectural Drafting CAD will be at World Skills, so that will be really good for our students.”

Several RLC participants in the Illinois SkillsUSA competition posed for a photo after the awards ceremony earlier this month in Springfield. Pictured is, FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Emily Hufford (Dix), Kayla Burk (West Frankfort), Sue Greer (Coulterville), Sarah Draege (Woodlawn), Michael Whitworth (Mt. Vernon), and Donna Krahn (Woodlawn); BACK Row, FROM LEFT: Chris Miles (Mt. Vernon, Branden Hammonds (Benton), Dallas Lefler (Mulkeytown), Tyler Lampley (Benton), Sidney Page (Benton), Valerie Potmas (Zeigler), and Rachel Bennett (Xenia). Click on the image for a larger view.

Winning first place for RLC was Jacob Petty (Mt. Vernon) in Architectural CAD Drafting, Donna Krahn (Woodlawn) in Early Childhood Education, and Chris Miles (Mt. Vernon) in Technical CAD Drafting. They will attend SkillsUSA Nationals June 23-27 in Kansas City, Mo. If they place first again, they will move on to World Skills 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Other RLC winners included:

• Kayla Burk (West Frankfort), second in Architectural CAD Drafting;
• Emily Hufford (Dix), third in Architectural CAD Drafting;
• Tyler Lampley (Benton), fifth in Architectural CAD Drafting;
• Michael Whitworth (Mt. Vernon), third in Culinary Arts;
• Rachel Bennett (Xenia), second in Early Childhood Education;
• Valerie Potmas (Zeigler), third in Early Childhood Education;
• Sue Greer (Coulterville), fourth in Early Childhood Education;
• Sarah Draege (Woodlawn), fifth in Early Childhood Education;
• Kaylan Grove (Benton), third in Welding;
• Sidney Page (Benton), sixth in Welding;
• Branden Hammonds (Benton), seventh in Welding;
• And Dallas Lefler (Mulkeytown), eighth in Welding.

For more information about SkillsUSA at RLC, contact Weston at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1816 or westonk@rlc.edu.