Vinal Tech's SkillsUSA Opening and Closing Ceremonies Team Wins Gold!

On Sunday, June 21, 2009, twelve SkillsUSA state champions from Vinal Tech got on a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Kansas City, Missouri to attend the 45th Annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference with advisor, Michele Leahy and Manufacturing department head, Michael Hood in tow as chaperones.  Eighty-one individuals representing CT SkillsUSA made up of state champions, advisors and parent observers made the flight that day to attend the festivities and competitions for the entire week…little did anyone know that Vinal Tech would have national champions returning home on Saturday, June 27th!

Michele Leahy, co-advisor for Vinal Tech SkillsUSA and coach for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies team, which is comprised of seven students, knew she had a group that could possibly place in the top three at the national conference, but what she didn’t know was how committed the team really was to achieving that goal.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies competition at the national conference is the most hotly contested event for the week.  Thirty-seven secondary and nine post-secondary teams made up the competition roster this year making the Opening and Closing Team event the largest number of competitors at the national conference with 322 state champions from around the country registered to compete.  Typically, it is a very difficult event to win on the national level. 

Opening and Closing Ceremonies is a state and national event in which the seven team members are evaluated and scored according to national standards established for SkillsUSA.  The team members are evaluated as to the understanding of the symbolic representation of the colors and assembled parts of the SkillsUSA emblem and to evaluate teamwork and professional presentation skills such as voice, stage presence and mechanics. 

The first hurdle to overcome is to make it past the preliminary rounds which Vinal Tech’s team accomplished on Wednesday, June 24th.  The top 12 teams are then scheduled to compete in a final round which was held on Thursday, June 25th.  Mrs. Leahy was able to watch the team perform during the finals along with CT SkillsUSA State Director, Heidi Balch.  Both knew after the performance that the team had done very well and were possibly contenders to make the top three for national awards but all would have to wait it out until the awards ceremony which was held on Friday, June 26th at Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

Excitement erupted as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies team results were posted and Vinal Tech was crowned as national gold medalists.  The team consisted of seniors Matthew Kimball, Jonathan Rodriguez, Raymond Ramirez, Dylan Cruz, Alexander Sprague and sophomores, Jonathan Holmes and Cody Spencer.  The team rehearsed tirelessly before making the trip to Kansas City and their hard work and dedication paid off.

Vinal Tech had state champions in Automated Manufacturing and Community Service who also placed very well at the national conference.  The Automated Manufacturing team consisted of three students, juniors Stephanie Robinson, Katelyn Murphy and Rebecca Michaud who placed 19th in the nation in their event.  The Community Service team which consisted of senior Daniel Coe and junior Mariah Hewitt, placed 24th in the nation for this event.

Congratulations to Vinal Tech’s competitors for a job well done especially to the National Gold Medalist Opening and Closing Ceremonies team.