ETA Congratulates SkillsUSA Telecommunications Cabling Champions
Greencastle, IN (PRWEB) July 01, 2016 -- The SkillsUSA Championships, held in Louisville, KY, took place June 22-23, 2016, as part of the SkillsUSA 51st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), a showcase of career and technical education students. All contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations, and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by industry. In addition, leadership contestants demonstrated their skills, which included extemporaneous speaking and conducting meetings by parliamentary procedure.
Unique to SkillsUSA, the Telecommunications Cabling Championship utilizes many of the competencies and hands-on skills that make up ETA International’s Data Cabling Installer (DCI) and Customer Service Specialist (CSS) certifications. The contests are planned by the Skills Technical Committee and designed to test the aptitude needed for successful entry-level performance in the field. The National Education Team and the Technical Team from industry developed the Telecommunications Cabling contest content, built and set up the rotation areas as well as conducted both the orientation and competition.
Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels. This multi-million dollar event occupied a space equivalent to 16 football fields. Over 6,000 high school and post-secondary students competed in 106 different hands-on trade, technical and leadership contests at the Olympic-type event. Contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations and labor organizations with test competencies set by industry.
ETA’s student scholarship recipient to the International Wireless Communications Expo attended the SkillsUSA National Championships. Kelly Krenek, A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, TX, 2016 Skills Texas President, participated in the House of Delegates and met each Skills officer from every state. She said she plans to compete in the 2017 Skills T-comm championships.
Students worked against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations such as electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. Top student winners received gold, silver and bronze medallions. Many also received prizes such as tools of their trade and/or scholarships to further their careers and education.
Including the T-com judges, supporters and contributors to the T-comm Cabling Championship come from departments of public instruction, community colleges, proprietary training groups, and companies such as ETA, Dymo, eITprep, Corning Optical Communications, CWA, Panduit, Fluke Networks, Cisco, Kobalt Tools, Light Brigade, Keysight Technologies, Southwire, Milwaukee Tools, Wiley Publishing, BICSI and Kentucky Community Technical College System-Elizabethtown.
The T-com Cabling contestants arrived early in the morning ready for a long day of competition. Divided into groups, they entered their first test area after clothing inspections and tool kits checks. Their hands-on skills were assessed in the areas of 25-pair cable installation, cable termination, copper and fiber cable construction, copper and fiber troubleshooting, and technical assistance. Each area rotation was 90 minutes long.
Congratulations to the tough competitors who vied for medals and awards in the Telecommunications Cabling contest and especially to the six contestants who took home gold, silver and bronze medals for themselves and their schools!
High School: Gold – Nicholas Stemen, Waver Academy, Greensboro NC; Silver – Bryan Urias, Orange Technical Education Centers, Orlando FL; Bronze – Derek Faudree, Kiamichi Technology Center, Atoka OK.
Post-Secondary: Gold – Nakisha Carter, Indian Capital Technology Center, Muskogee OK; Silver – Dustin Loya, College of Western Idaho, Nampa ID; Bronze – Ashley Smith, Ozarks Technical Community College, Springfield MO.
National technical and educational committees for Telecommunications Cabling Championship: Technical Chair Teresa Maher, CSS - ETA (IN); Rich Booth, FOT - ETA (AZ); Bob Dickerson, DPI, retired (NC); and Dick Darnell, Commscope, UT; Dan Parmer, DCI and Jeff Swearingen, both of Stanly Community College (NC); Dede Starnes, Corning Optical Communications; and Valene Ricchio, Shelby County Technical School (KY). ETA gives special thanks to the Telecommunications Cabling Championship judges: Bill Phelps, Dymo (NC) and Will Bland, Bland Technologies (KY).
To view the entire photo gallery, please visit http://www.eta-i.org/2016_skillsusa.html.
About SkillsUSA - SkillsUSA is a vital solution to the growing U.S. skills gap. This nonprofit partnership of students, instructors and industry ensures America has the skilled workforce it needs to stay competitive. Founded in 1965 and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education, the association serves more than 300,000 member students and instructors each year in middle schools, high schools and colleges. This diverse talent pipeline covers 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, the majority STEM-related. More than 600 corporations, trade associations, businesses and labor unions actively support SkillsUSA at the national level. SkillsUSA programs are integrated into career and technical education through a framework of personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. Local, state and national championships, designed and judged by industry, set relevant standards for career and technical education and provide needed recognition to its students. SkillsUSA also offers technical skill assessments and other workplace credentials. For more information, go to: http://www.SkillsUSA.org.
About ETA - Since 1978, ETA has issued over 150,000 professional certifications. Widely recognized and frequently used in worker job selection, hiring processes, pay increases, and advancements, ETA certifications are often required as companies bid on contracts. ETA’s certifications are personal and travel with the individual, regardless of employment or status change and measure competencies of persons, not products or vendors. All ETA certifications are accredited through the International Certification Accreditation Council (ICAC) and align with the ISO-17024 standard. http://www.eta-i.org
Download this press release at – http://www.eta-i.org/pr/ETA_Congratulates_SkillsUSA_Telecommunications_Cabling_Champions.pdf
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Michele Altman, ETA International, http://www.eta-i.org, +1 8002883824 Ext: 102, [email protected]
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