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LEWISTOWN -- Last year, Keagan Scyoc kept the faith and trusted his training from the Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology and competed at the SkillsUSA National Championships in June 2023.
The 2023 Academy graduate earned a high school silver medal in Telecommunications at the event in Atlanta, Ga., which hosted more than 6,000 students from all 50 states.
Scyoc was the first electrical student to compete in a national competition in the Academy's history. He's also the first national winner the electrical class ever had. School officials said an Academy student has not achieved national champion medal status over the past 15 years.
Students were invited to the event based on their outstanding state-level performance in career competitions held earlier this spring. Scyoc qualified after winning the Pennsylvania title.
Now, a new class of students is hoping to accomplish a similar feat.
They're off to a good start as three students from the Academy's precision machine program have qualified for the state competition: Cooper Adair, first place, welding sculpture; Jack Hart, first place, computer numerical control (CNC) programming; and Austin Anderson, first place, precision machine.
The Academy students competed in the Skills USA district competition on Jan. 17, 2024, in Altoona. "About 350 students from more than 15 career and technical schools in nearby counties competed in 67 different categories during the regional contest at the Blair County Convention Center," said Academy Administrative Director Barry King.
"But only those who earned a gold medal in each category will travel to Hershey in April for the statewide competition," he added.
The Academy also had several other place winners:
•Tyler Mateer, first place, building construction
•Cole Morrison, first place, auto maintenance/light repair
•Derick Rice, first place, technical math
•Allison Hogle, second place, health care
•Mason Krepps, second place, electrical construction wiring
•Alyza Hlvarty, third place, medical assisting
•Evie Reifer, third place, medical customer service
•Jaspe Santiago, third place, restaurant service
•Saren Wray, third place, first aid/CPR
•Jaxson Yoder, telecommunications cabling will also compete at the state competition.
Students who place first at the state level will qualify for the national competition in Atlanta in June 2024.
Electrical instructor Steven Hogle Jr. and enrichment instructor Shelly Waters serve as advisors for the Academy's SkillsUSA program.