Cuesta Students Qualify for SkillsUSA State

A record number of Cuesta College students have qualified for SkillsUSA California’s 48th Annual State Leadership and Skill Conference, set for April 8-12 in San Diego. Some 19 Career and Technical Education students are eligible to compete. That’s the most students Cuesta has ever sent to the state competition since it began participating in 2006.
“SkillsUSA not only teaches the technical skills that are required for employment, but also teaches the character, or ‘soft-skills,’ that are required in the workplace in order to keep a job,” said John Stokes, Cuesta’s engineering and technology division chairman, who oversees the SkillsUSA team. “Our CTE instruction here at Cuesta College is, and has for some time, been top shelf.”
The 19 qualifiers participated in a regional competition at Paso Robles High School on Saturday, Feb. 7. The students earned a total of 20 medals. Results were: Automotive Refinishing, Austin Feavel — gold medal; Carpentry, Mike Zook — gold, Doug Terbeek — silver; Collision Repair, Ethan Moskoff — gold; Commercial Baking, Grace Stokes — gold, Marina Perry — silver; Culinary Arts, Noah Yoshida — gold; Early Childhood Education, Penny Glass — gold, Lauren Sterner – silver, and Amanda Edick — bronze; and Electrical Construction Wiring, Jason Wolverton — gold, Javier Flores — silver, and Aaron Francis — bronze.
Other winners were: Electronics, Daniel McFarlane — gold; Prepared Speech, Grace Stokes — gold; Restaurant Service, Victoria Wilson — gold; Welding, Patrick Hickey — gold; and Welding Fabrication, team of Daniel Thoresen, Tim O’Clair, and Jose Sanchez — gold.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives, working to ensure the U.S. has a skilled workforce.