CASPER – The Guernsey-Sunrise SkillsUSA chapter sent 18 members to Casper April 22 for the Wyoming Leadership and Skills Conference. Nearly 35 schools from across the state brought students to compete in over 70 competitions. When the Guernsey-Sunrise group returned home, 2 days later, they brought 14 medals and the 1A/2A state title with them. This marks the 4th straight year that Guernsey-Sunrise has won the 1A/2A team title, solidifying their spot as one of the biggest and best chapters in the state.

Five of the Guernsey-Sunrise students attended a Health Occupations session shortly after arriving on Monday, while several others competed throughout the afternoon and evening in a variety of leadership competitions. Tuesday was the day for the skilled trade competitions, and eight chapter members competed in four events. The evening concluded with a meal and dance at The Hangar in Bar Nunn.

The awards ceremony on Wednesday morning couldn’t come soon enough, as students from across the state hoped to hear their name get called to the stage. Winning gold medals would not only mean being a state champion but would also ensure a trip to compete at the national level in Atlanta, Georgia this June. 

All schools, whether 1A/2A, 3A or 4A, competed against each other in individual competitions regardless of classifications, though team titles would follow school size classifications.

After hearing from several sponsors and speakers, Governor, Mark Gordon, spoke to the roughly 500 people in attendance about the importance of skilled trades. Gov. Gordon informed the crowd that career and technical education (CTE) was a high priority in the state and he commended all the participants on putting in the work to position themselves for future success.

Once the awards started being called out, Guernsey-Sunrise saw a steady flow of their chapter members being announced to the stage. Gold medal winners included Chloe Holbrook (Customer Service), the team of Jack Baker, Domonic Ramirez, Kris White (American Spirit), and the team of Rylie Thompson, Leni Dimas, Nathan VanNatter (Community Service).  The Guernsey-Sunrise chapter has taken gold in the community service competition since 2019, beating a tough Cheyenne East team for the title this year. 

Silver medal winners included the duo of Kris White and Jaden Lehman (sUAS Commercial Drones), Liberty Whitebird (Facilithon), and Karley Lehman, Jaden Lehman, and Berkleigh Pafford (Promotional Bulletin Board). Bringing home Bronze medals were Julian Rodriguez and Marcus Swingholm (sUAS Commercial Drones), and junior high participant Adam Bandelos (Extemporaneous Speaking).  Members who competed but didn’t hear their name called this year included Juliana Schiele (Nurse Assisting), Dymond Dimas (First Aid/CPR), Addisyn Saukkola (Health Knowledge Bowl and Medical Terminology), and Sam Baker (Extemporaneous Speaking). 

Along with being announced as the 1A/2A state champion, Guernsey-Sunrise was also one of ten schools to earn the Quality Chapter award, which is nominated regardless of school classification. The gold medalists from each competition now go on to compete at the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, June 24 - 28.

Representing nearly 400,000 career and technical education students and teachers, SkillsUSA chapters thrive in middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions nationwide. Their mission is accomplished through the SkillsUSA framework of personal, workplace and technical skills, grounded in academics and integrated into classroom curriculum.

Through this framework, SkillsUSA students hone their hands-on skills against current industry standards in more than 130 occupational areas, from 3-D animation to welding and nearly everything in between. At the same time, they develop the transformative career-readiness skills — teamwork, communication, professionalism, leadership and more — that fuel career and life success.

A vital solution to the ongoing skills gap, where more highly skilled jobs are available than skilled professionals ready to fill them, SkillsUSA has served more than 14.6 million members since 1965.

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