Putnam County School students gaining real-world experience and recognition through SkillsUSA, a program that allows them to showcase career and technical skills on a competitive stage.
Putnam County CTE Supervisor Jackie Vester said SkillsUSA is one of many career technical student organizations that exist across Putnam County Schools. Vester said
“It allows students to demonstrate the skills and knowledge that they’re learning in the classroom in a more hands-on environment that tries to replicate some of the activities that they’re going to see, find, experience in the workplace,” Vester said.
Beyond competition, Vester said one of the biggest benefits for students is the opportunity to build connections that can help them in their future careers. Vester said students also benefit from connecting with professionals already working in their chosen fields.
“We’re also very fortunate that industry partners from across the state support SkillsUSA, so then they were also networking with those individuals that are in their career currently,” Vester said. “And so I think that’s definitely the biggest value to the students in the long run.”
That experience recently paid off for several Cookeville High School students who brought home top honors at the state competition in Chattanooga last week. Vester said one of the state winners was a team of cosmetology students.
“So we had four students out of cosmetology that competed in entrepreneurship, and so basically they pitched their business idea, which was starting their own salon,” Vester said. “And with that pitch, they won the state and will have the opportunity to compete nationally in the summer in Atlanta.”
In addition, Vester said two students from an audio-visual program earned a state title in video production. Vester said those students are very involved at Cookville High School in creating videos for both the board at the football field and the board in the gym
“They just use those skills that they’re already utilizing at school to create a video, and obviously, the work they’re doing is top-notch because they as well won the state and have the opportunity to compete in Atlanta against other students from across the United States,” Vester said.
While this year’s winners all came from Cookeville High School, Vester noted participation included students from Upperman High School.
Having multiple state winners, she said, reflects both the strength of the school system’s programs and the students themselves.
” We have top-notch teachers that are in the classroom teaching those students that knowledge, that skill, and then also taking that extra time to prepare them for these competitions,” Vester said. “And then, of course, it also demonstrates the caliber of our students within our schools.”
Vester said competitions like SkillsUSA help answer a common question students often have about their education.
“It allows them to really see how and when am I going to use this in my future,” Vester said.
The winning students will now advance to the national SkillsUSA competition, which will be held in Atlanta at the end of June. Vester said the goal goes beyond winning awards, focusing instead on long-term growth and preparation.
“You know, the goal for all the students is to be willing to put yourself out there, to be willing to dedicate yourself to the type of preparation and work that goes into these events,” Vester said. “And we think that that will translate into the workplace.”
She said those experiences help shape students’ work ethic moving forward.
“Our students are learning that if they want something, if they want to go out and compete, that they have to put the work in, and we hope that that helps develop their work ethic,” Vester said.