Connecticut Tech Students Earn Top Honors at National Skills Competition
State Can Boast Having Nation's Top Student Electrician and Plumber for 2005

( KANSAS CITY , MO. ) Two Connecticut Technical High School students earned the right to call themselves top students in the nation in their chosen professions: Electrician and Plumber. The students earned top national honors in the annual national SkillsUSA competition June 21- 24.  They are:

Shawn Mundo, from Wilcox Tech in Meriden , Placed 1^st in Residential Wiring.

Jason Tartaris, from Grasso Tech in Groton , Placed 1^st in Plumbing

Jason and Shawn with their first place gold medals

A total of 62 students from the Connecticut Technical High School System qualified to compete in the national SkillsUSA competition and 19 scored in the top 20 in the nation. See more details on the Connecticut SkillsUSA Web site.

Over 4,600 outstanding career and technical education students from 59 states and territories joined in the excitement of hands-on competition in eighty different trade, technical, and leadership fields.

Working against the clock and each other, the participants proved their expertise in job skills for occupations such as electronics, technical drafting, precision machining, medical assisting, plumbing, robotics, computer programming and culinary arts. There were also competitions in leadership skills, such as extemporaneous speaking and job interview skills. 

SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. It sponsors the SkillsUSA National Championships annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations.

The contests are planned by technical committees made up of representatives of labor and management and are designed to test the skills needed for a successful entry-level performance in given occupational fields. Safety practices and procedures - an area of great concern to labor and management alike - are judged and graded and constitute a portion of a contestant's score.

Plumbing contestants "rough-in" hot and cold water lines with copper to a water heater and the sanitary drainage waste and vent lines with cast iron and PVC plastic for a water closet, a lavatory and a washer box. Completed projects are pressure tested on the water pipes. Professional plumbers and pipe fitters judge the contestants on the basis of accuracy, workmanship, proper selection and use of tools and supplies, and proper safety practices.

Residential Wiring contestants are required to complete a written test, a practical conduit bending exercise and a hands-on installation and wiring exercise. Working from drawings and specifications sheets, contestants are required to install residential wiring and electrical devices. Judging is on the basis of general workmanship, accuracy of layout and installation, and adherence to the current national Electrical Code and standard industry safe practices.

Organizations supporting the contest include Carhartt Inc.; Channellock; DEWALT Industrial Tool Co.; The Home Depot; Ideal Industries; IRWIN Industrial Tools; Klein Tools Inc.; Lenox; Little Tikes; National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee; RCP; Rubbermaid Inc.; The Stanley Works; and, Wayne Griffin Electrical Inc.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, skilled workers in the technical fields such as electrician, plumber, and health technician are in great demand.  The DOL predicts 2.5 million new skilled trade workers will be needed over the next 8 years.