Five Ferris State University students representing the College of Engineering Technology
and one student from the College of Business will compete in the SkillsUSA Championships
on Thursday, June 27 in Kansas City, Mo.
The students earned gold medals at the Michigan SkillsUSA competition in April in
Grand Rapids to advance to the national finals. The championship will be held during
the June 24-28
National Leadership and Skills Conference, a showcase of career and technical education
students.
“Students will continue to prepare and practice for their specific competition to compete against other students in the post-secondary competition from all 50 states,” said associate professor Daniel Wanink, the university’s SkillsUSA adviser. “It is very exciting that our students have these opportunities to showcase Ferris and the quality education we provide that is based on real-world experience.”
Those representing Ferris next month include: Matt Haan, a freshman from Lowell majoring in Technical Drafting; Andy Doane, a sophomore from Muskegon majoring in Diesel Equipment Technology; Rachel Reber, a freshman from Bellevue majoring in Graphic Communications; and the Automated Manufacturing Team of Brandon White, a freshman from Plymouth; Thaddeus Wilcome, a freshman from Sparta; and Shane Ferris, a freshman from Lyons.
Nearly 6,000 state contest winners will compete hands-on in 98 trade, technical and leadership fields during the national showcase. National winners will have the opportunity to compete at the WorldSkills Championships.
Ferris has been participating in SkillsUSA competitions since the late 1970s. More than 300,000 students and instructors are members of SkillsUSA, whose mission is to empower members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.
SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and is cited as a "successful model of employer-driven youth development training program" by the U.S. Department of Labor.