Jacob Ryder, Peyton Oden and Carter Robinson display their treasure map after winning the SkillsUSA State Championship Wednesday. (Photo Courtesy Mike Burkett/CATA)
CULLMAN COUNTY – Three Cullman Area Technology Academy (CATA) students whose SkillsUSA community service poster project was featured in a recent Tribune article (See www.cullmantribune.com/articles/2018/04/05/cata-students-map-way-career-island) won the State Championship this past Wednesday in Birmingham at the State SkillsUSA Competition. Juniors Peyton Oden (Fairview High School), Carter Robertson (Fairview High School) and Jacob Ryder (Good Hope High School), who attend career tech classes at CATA, will go on to compete in the National SkillsUSA competition in Kentucky in June.
CATA Building Construction Tech Teacher Mike Burkett described the project as “an educational tool that is part of a Community Service project for SkillsUSA, a leadership development organization for Career Technical Education students. The work emphasizes the importance of Personal Skills as a part of an overall employment framework that also includes Workplace and Technical Skills. Their premise is that without adequate Personal Skills on day one of a new career, the other two just aren’t as essential to local employers.”
The three used a treasure map theme to appeal especially to students in the intermediate or middle school grades. According to Burkett, “Studies show that personal skill development has the greatest impact on students in the middle school ages, and they carry that on into high school.”
In addition to the championship team, CATA had others competing at the state level. Dustin Burney, Jordan King and Jason Peck placed second in State Chapter Display. Other individuals and teams had entries in Individual Class Project Display, Chapter Display, Team Class Project Display and Promotional Bulletin Board. CATA also sent a five-person Quiz Bowl team.
Said Burkett, “I am so very proud of all the CATA students who competed at SkillsUSA, and especially happy for the students who won and placed in their respective divisions. They all worked very hard and responded well to adversity and pressure throughout the competition, all the while remaining respectful and responsible to everyone. We are very blessed with great students at CATA and in Cullman County. I also want to express our gratitude to the many local business and political leaders, along with teachers, principals and parents, who supported our CATA students during their district and state SkillsUSA competitions.”
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