Autumn Renna of OU BOCES wins bronze medal at SkillsUSA National Championships

Orange-Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) student Autumn Renna (Cornwall HS) won a bronze medal in Pin Design at the SkillsUSA National Championships in Atlanta last month.
The annual SkillsUSA conference was a showcase of career and technical education where more than 5,200 outstanding career and technical education students - all state contest winners - competed hands-on in 108 different trade, technical and leadership fields.

"We are so proud of Autumn and all she has accomplished," said OU BOCES CTE assistant principal Jaclyn De Lao. "Winning a bronze medal at the National Competition is no small feat. Autumn showed her passion, perseverance and excellent skills in career and technical education.  We can't wait to see what she will have in store in her senior year in our Digital Design and Advertising program."

In the pin design competition, students presented their state-winning pin along with their artwork and participated in an oral presentation regarding all aspects of their creation of the design. Contestants explained how the pin represents their state, its unique qualities and why another SkillsUSA student or adult member would want to wear the pin. Students also created a tabletop display that is educational and represents the process that took place in creating the design.

During the SkillsUSA competition, the 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. All contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations and labor organizations, testing competencies set by industry for entry-level workers in their field.  A total of 1,150 gold, silver and bronze medals were presented to students
on June 24 at the SkillsUSA Awards Ceremony at State Farm Arena, whichwas sponsored by partner Frontdoor Inc. with keynote speaker Darren Keefe of HGTV.

About SkillsUSA

Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry that empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. The SkillsUSA Framework of Personal, Workplace and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics inspires work and life success for students while helping industry close the skills
gap currently leaving millions of skilled trade jobs unfilled.