MTI wins most medals in state at Florida SkillsUSA

At an awards ceremony on May 2, Manatee Technical Institute presented 99 medals to the MTI students who won first, second or third at the 2014 Florida SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference, April 28 and 29 in Pensacola.

Manatee Tech students won 54 gold medals—more medals than any other school in the state—at the 47th Annual Conference. The gold medalists, as well as other qualifying students from MTI, will advance to the national championships in Kansas City, Missouri, in June. They will represent MTI and the State of Florida and compete for the national title in their skill or leadership area.
Students from high schools, technical centers and colleges from across the state competed in 113 skills and leadership contests. Some were team events. Each contest had two divisions (high school/secondary and college/postsecondary).
In the Carpentry contest, MTI students took first place in both divisions: Wyatt Misztak won gold in the high school division, and Aaron Eubanks Jr. earned gold in the college division.
MTI students medaled in 44 contests. Among them were Architectural Drafting, Automotive Service Technology, Computer Maintenance Technology, Crime Scene Investigation, Customer Service, Early Childhood Education, Electrical Construction Wiring, Esthetics, Firefighting, Marine Service Technology, Major Appliance Technology, Marine Service Technology, Men’s Haircutting, Nurse Assisting, Plumbing, Prepared Speech, Technical Drafting, Restaurant Service, and Welding Sculpture.
The SkillsUSA contests are the most important opportunity students have to compete against their peers and demonstrate their skills. SkillsUSA is a national organization that promotes excellence, employability skills, and ethics to students in career and technical education to better prepare them for successful careers.
For the past ten years, MTI has won the most medals in the nation.
PHOTO: Gold medal winners–MTI student team Candise Evans, Andrew Cerquozzi, and Karlee Belisle won first in Community Service, college division, in the state skills contests. They will represent the school and the state at nationals.