Students mine SkillsUSA for gold, silver

Herr Gosche Kaiser Cook Kleinfelter Jones Wertz Zimmerman McClimans Weaver Holman LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eleven students from Sentinel Career and Technology Center are coming home with medals from the SkillsUSA 53rd annual National Leadership and Skills Conference. Competitions took place Monday through Friday. Among the winners was Dylan Wertz, a senior from Columbian High School and the collision repair technology program at Sentinel. Wertz earned a gold medal in the automotive refinishing technology contest. "It is pretty amazing," Wertz said. Wertz was the first winner announced from Sentinel during the awards ceremony. "The hard work my instructors and I put in paid off," he said. Wertz said he put in countless hours of practice, repeating what he would have to undergo for competitions. Also bringing home gold medals were the members of the health knowledge bowl team. The team is made up of seniors Alaina Gosche from Hopewell-Loudon High School, Alexis Herr of Columbian High School, Jessica Holman of St. Wendelin Catholic High School and Madison Jones of Calvert Catholic High School.All are in the health careers academy program. "We are all very excited," Gosche said. "We didn't know what to expect, but we made it." Gosche said she and her team were prepared for nationals. "We practiced questions from previous years taken from regional and state competitions," Gosche said. As a team, Gosche said, they all collaborate very well, working off of each team member's different knowledge strengths. Alan Zimmerman, a senior at Columbian High School and collision repair technology student, also earned a gold medal in his contest. This is Zimmerman's second consecutive gold medal from nationals. "It has been really fun," Zimmerman said. "The competition went well and I just want to thank my instructor (Carl Rusch) for getting me prepared." Zimmerman said earning a gold medal for he second year shows his dedication and that last year was not just luck. "This has been a great experience and a good start getting your name out there in the industry," Zimmerman said. Ben Kleinfelter, senior of Hopewell-Loudon High School in the precision machining program, earned a silver medal. "I was really shocked," Kleinfelter said. "I felt I did well, but I didn't know how well." Kleinfelter said he made a few mistakes, but he said he was able to "knock it out." Also bringing home silver medals are the members of the teamworks team. The team includes seniors Wyatt Cook of Mohawk High School and the electrical trades program; Jared Kaiser and Austin McClimans of Seneca East High School and the building construction trades program; and Nolan Weaver of Old Fort High School and the building and construction trades program. Cook said they began working together two years ago and have been able to work well as a team. "We had a rough start at first, but we were able to finish the project," Cook said. Although there is a little disappointment, Cook said they are "very happy" to have gotten second place. "We could have done better, but we are very happy," he said.