Academy students shine at SkillsUSA state meet

Yoder brings home silver medal

LEWISTOWN -- Students at the Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology continue to shine on a big stage.

Eight students recently competed at the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference in Hershey, vying for a coveted spot at SkillsUSA National Championships.

Last year, Keagan Scyoc captured a state title -- as well as the hearts of those in the Juniata Valley who cheered him on his magical journey to nationals.

The 2003 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.

The eight Academy students who traveled to Hershey on April 3-5 for states included: Cooper Adair, Austin Anderson, Jack Hart and Derick Rice, who are students from Juniata High School; and Allison Hogle, Tyler Mateer, Cole Morrison and

Jaxon Yoder, of Mifflin County High School.

Hogle represented the Academy SkillsUSA chapter as a voting delegate, while the other students participated in leadership and skill-related contests.

Adair, Anderson and Hart, all Precision Machining students, competed in Welding Sculpture, Precision Machining and Computer Numerical Control, or CNC, Programming.

Tyler Mateer competed in the Building Construction competition as a student in the Construction Trades program. Cole Morrison, an Automotive Mechanics Technology student, participated in the Auto Maintenance and Light Repair contest, while Mechatronics student Derick Rice completed the Related Technical Math contest.

Additionally, Jaxon Yoder, a junior in the Electrical Installation program, performed well in the Telecommunications Cabling competition, earning a silver medal at the awards ceremony on Friday.

All of the Academy students placed within the top 10 of their respective contests, which was certainly an admirable showing for our school, said Shelly Waters Royer, the Academy's SkillsUSA advisor.

"This year was the largest conference in the 54-year history of SkillsUSA PA SLSC," Royer said. "Nearly 1,800 students participated in 98 competitions, volunteered as courtesy corps and represented their chapters as delegates."

SkillsUSA is a National Technical Student Organization open to all students in Career and Technical Education classes across the United States.

Each year, Academy students fundraise to be able to participate in conferences at the district, state and national levels. They work on community projects and raise money to donate to those in our area in need as well as participating in social events throughout the year.