Whittier Tech Students Earn Gold Medals at SkillsUSA National Competition

From left on top row: SkillsUSA advisors Kris Crovetti, Paul Moskevitz and Bruce Boisselle, students Ryan Link, Silas Smith, Jaidyn Craig, and advisor Nicole Grupposso. From left on bottom row: SkillsUSA advisor Latisha Costa, students Noel Allen, Julia Walsh, Marisa Behl, Chloe Samard, Melissa Guillaume and advisor Jane Moskevitz. (Photo Courtesy Whittier Tech)

HAVERHILL – Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch wishes to congratulate students on their exceptional performance, with several taking home gold medals, at the national SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Conference last month.

Eight Whittier Tech students and seven staff members attended the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 20-24. Students from across the country who earned gold medals at State Conferences earlier this year had the opportunity to compete on the national level.

Chloe Simard, Melissa Guillaume, both from Haverhill, and Julia Walsh from Salisbury, all members of the Class of 2022 who studied Health Assisting, won gold medals in Career Pathways Showcase Health Services for their project “Spreading the Warmth.” As part of the project, they made and donated specialty blankets to local area pediatric hospitals.

“Congratulations to all the students who competed and to our entire SkillsUSA chapter,” Superintendent Lynch said. “Winning gold is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, and the knowledge that they attain through their studies at Whittier Tech. All of our students and advisors should be very proud.”

Noel Allen, a member of the Class of 2022 from Salisbury who studied Culinary Arts, participated in the Restaurant Services competition.

Jaidyn Craig, an incoming senior from Haverhill studying Medical Assisting, was recognized as an elected Massachusetts State Officer for the 2022-2023 school year.

Craig also served as a National Delegate along with Ryan Link, a member of the Class of 2022 from Haverhill who studied Advanced Manufacturing. Craig and Link represented Whittier Tech by voting on the national officers.

At the conference, Whittier Tech’s chapter also was recognized with the Gold Standard Level 2 Chapter Award and as one of 24 SkillsUSA chapters in the nation to achieve the Models of Excellence in Technical Skills status.

Whittier’s chapter was recognized as a Model of Excellence for several projects that honored Haverhill’s first responders on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Advanced Manufacturing students made custom key tags for all first responders, Carpentry students crafted American flags for the fire and police chiefs, Masonry students added customized donor bricks to the Haverhill Firefighting Museum Memorial, and Culinary Arts students baked pastries for all guests in attendance at a Memorial Service at the Haverhill Firefighting Museum.

Silas Smith, an incoming junior from Haverhill studying Masonry, and SkillsUSA Chapter Secretary Marisa Behl, an incoming senior from Georgetown studying Health Assisting, represented Whittier Tech in accepting this honor.

“This Model of Excellence award, in particular, was so positive and included more than just the two students selected to represent Whittier. It feels like every student at Whittier came back with a gold,” SkillsUSA Advisor and Allied Health Instructor Jane Moskevitz said

Students and advisors are excited to begin preparing for SkillsUSA projects for the upcoming school year.

Moskevitz added: “Even though the school year just ended, it’s time to start preparing for the upcoming school year. The plan heading into the 2022-2023 school year is to work hard as a chapter with our student leaders to intentionally plan out our program to continue to reflect the SkillsUSA Framework.”

About SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of positions go unfilled.

Through SkillsUSA’s championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has more than 366,000 annual paid members nationwide in high schools, colleges, and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. With the addition of its alumni, membership last year was 427,432. The nonprofit has served nearly 14 million members since 1965.