Local students to compete in CTE Skills Challenges

High School students from across the Upper Peninsula will be competing in the 2019 UP CTE Skills Challenge this Friday.

Five competitions based on skills learned in Career and Technical Education classes will be held at Northern Michigan University beginning with the 13th Annual Upper Peninsula High School Construction Skills Challenge.

The Copper Country ISD will have students competing in all five events including the Welding, Automotive, and Computer Aided Drafting Skills Competition.

New this year is the first Culinary Skills Challenge that includes students preparing appetizers and a full entre.

At the end of the event, awards will be presented at the Jacobetti Complex on NMU’s campus.

Here is the full press release from Michigan Works!

High School Career and Technical Education Takes Center Stage at NMU’s Jacobetti Complex on Friday, April 26

High school students from across the Upper Peninsula will gather at Northern Michigan University’s Jacobetti Complex on Friday, April 26 in a celebration of Career and Technical Education during the 2019 Upper Peninsula CTE Skills Challenge. NMU will host five student competitions beginning with the 13th Annual Upper Peninsula High School Construction Skills Challenge, a day-long competition bringing Construction Trades students from high schools and career tech centers who will work in teams and have six hours to construct a multipurpose structure. The Construction Skills Challenge begins at 9:00 a.m.

At 10:00 a.m., high school welders from across the U.P. will participate in the 4th Annual Upper Peninsula High School Welding Skills Challenge. This competition provides a great opportunity for high school students to display their welding skills and determines the top high school welder in the U.P.

The 5th Annual NMU Automotive High School Skills Competition, which brings students from U.P. high school automotive programs to NMU’s Automotive Lab for a skills competition will begin at 10:00 a.m.

The 2019 event will feature the 2nd Annual Computer Aided Drafting Skills Challenge. The Basic CAD Challenge will begin at 9:35 a.m., and the Advanced CAD Challenge will begin at 12:35 p.m.

This year the 2019 event will feature the 1st Annual U.P. Culinary Skills Challenge. The Challenge will begin at 10:00 a.m., and final plates will be presented to judges at 2:30 p.m.

Throughout the day, CTE teachers will participate in professional development sessions focused on best practices in safety, curriculum, instruction, and college and career preparation. The teachers will also have the opportunity to tour NMU’s facilities and a local construction project to view state-of-the-art equipment and processes.

The day will culminate with awards programs in the Jacobetti Commons for each of the competitions. The Automotive Skills awards will be presented at 1:30 p.m., the Welding Skills awards at 2:15 p.m., the Computer Aided Drafting Skills awards Basic CAD at 12:00 pm and Advanced CAD at 3:00 pm, the Culinary skills awards at 3:00 pm and the Construction Skills awards at 5:00 p.m.

Many sponsors from across the Upper Peninsula contribute financial support and material donations to make these events possible. A planning committee headed by Tony Retaskie, Executive Director of the Upper Peninsula Construction Council and comprised of local trades and business people, NMU administrators, instructors and students direct the event. In addition, numerous members of the trades serve as judges during the competitions.

The public is encouraged to attend this celebration of Career and Technical Education and view the work of these talented high school students. Marquette-Alger RESA’s CTE Director Brian Sarvello had the following to say about the event, “For these students, this is the equivalent of the U.P. or State Finals in athletics. They work just as hard as any athlete in preparation for the event and take great pride in representing their school and community. I hope the public will join us to see for themselves the tremendous talent and teamwork on display.”