UVU takes second place at Skills USA National Competition

Students take home three Gold Medals, four Silver and two Bronze at Thursday’s award ceremony.

February 4, 2013

schedule 2 min read
For the past 12 years running, UVU has ranked in the top three in the nation at the SkillsUSA national championships. The competition, which takes place every summer in Kansas City, Mo., allows students preparing for careers in trade, technical, health and skilled service occupations compete at the local, state, national and international level.

In an awards ceremony last Thursday, Taylor presented UVU’s 2012 national medalists from various categories their medallions, comprised of 3 gold medals, 4 silver and 2 bronze.

by Jim McCulloch-web“Only students who place first in their category at the state competition in Salt Lake City go to nationals,” said Daren Taylor, UVU SkillsUSA Director.

The winning categories ranged from architectural drafting to T-shirt design, to medical terminology to fire-fighting, placing UVU as second in the US for all colleges and universities for 2012.

However Skills USA competitions aren’t just about occupational work such as cabinetry or commercial baking.

Competition categories also include leadership demonstration. For example, students competing in the extemporaneous speaking contest might be asked to give a three to five-minute speech on an assigned topic with only five minutes to prepare.

The other three categories for which UVU has historically done well include skilled and technical science, occupationally related, and demonstrative competitions, keeping with the school’s historically technical-field background.

Yet with more than 300,000 students and advisors joining the SkillsUSA organization annually, UVU’s expanding progams will likely match their technical skills to a broader range of students across the nation in future SkillsUSA competitions to come.