Pittsburg, Kansas – Students from the Southeast Kansas Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) recently competed in the prestigious Kansas SkillsUSA Competition in Hutchinson, Kansas. The local CTEC team was comprised of students from Fort Scott Community College, as well as several local high schools.

Seventeen students competed in three categories: HVAC (5 students), Masonry (5 students) and Carpentry (7 students). Seven students earned medals, with other students placing in the top 10 of their category. Three of the seven students that medaled also qualified for the National SkillsUSA competition to be held this summer in Louisville, KY.

Students that earned medals are as follows:

• College Carpentry: Nathan Kaufman – Fort Scott Community College – 1st Place – National Qualifier
• High School Carpentry: Wil Jameson – Frontenac High School – 1st Place – National Qualifier
• High School HVAC – MacKenzie Hensley – Frontenac High School – 3rd Place
• College Masonry: Allen Blackburn – Fort Scott Community College – 2nd Place
• High School Masonry: Mason Jameson – Frontenac High School – 1st Place – National Qualifier
• High School Masonry: Matthew Pike – Girard High School – 2nd Place
• High School Masonry: Zach Troth – Frontenac High School – 3rd Place

Kris Mengarelli, CTEC executive director, said, “We are very proud of our students’ work ethic and the way they represented CTEC, Fort Scott Community College and our high schools. We’re especially proud of those that medaled and the three students that will be competing at the national competition in June.” Mengarelli added, “Fort Scott Community College has great instructors in Kim Coates (Carpentry), Chris Sterrett (HVAC) and Nacoma Oehme (Masonry). They do an outstanding job of preparing our students for the competition.”