After a competitive four-day state tournament in Corpus Christi last weekend, three Katy ISD students won first place and earned a spot in the 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. These students have worked since the start of the school year to perfect their skills and are excited to represent Katy ISD at the national level.
Emiliano Grajales Mora and Daniel Fernandez.
First Place Winners in SkillsUSA State Conference Mechatronics:
- Emiliano Grajales-Mora, Junior at Tompkins High School
- Daniel Fernandez, Junior at Tompkins High School
Culinary Arts:
- Brayden Henry, Junior at Tompkins High School
“The Miller Career & Technology Center (MCTC) SkillsUSA program has grown tremendously over the past three years, expanding to include Criminal Justice, Information Technology, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and Manufacturing Engineering chapters. Students enroll in MCTC courses to gain real-world experiences and career-focused opportunities,” said Dallas Bergstrom, MCTC Manufacturing Engineering Instructor. “In addition to competing, members of our SkillsUSA program gain valuable networking and leadership skills with like-minded peers across the state and/or nation,” added Bergstrom.
A total of 53 Katy ISD students recently advanced to state to compete against thousands of participants in over 100 occupational and leadership skill areas. The following students were among the Top five spots, some of which also earned scholarships in their respective categories.
SkillsUSA State ConferenceMechatronics – Second Place Winner:
- Kamalika Bose, Senior at Tompkins High School
Robotics and Automation – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winners:
- Aden Watson, Senior at Katy High School
- Philip Homburger, Junior at Taylor High
Engineering Technology Design – Third Place Winners:
- Seth Windham, Senior at Tompkins High
- Levend Karayaka, Senior at Taylor High
- Andrew Simmons, Senior at Tompkins High
Brayden Henry.
Computerized Numerical Control Milling – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winner:
- Daniel Fernandez, Junior at Tompkins High
Computerized Numerical Control Turning – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winner:
- Nicolas Ahmed, Senior at Mayde Creek High
Applied Engineering – Fourth Place Winners:
- Alan Mendoza-Estrada, Junior at Seven Lakes High
- Dayanna Perez, Junior at Mayde Creek High
- Logan King, Junior at Katy High
- Mitchell Gorodetsky a Junior at Taylor High
Commerciall Baking – Fifth Place Winner:
- Lauren Witte, Senior at Cinco Ranch High
SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills, along with technical skills grounded in academics. The goal of SkillsUSA is to empower students to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of industry positions go unfilled.
The 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skill Conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia June 20th thru 24th.
