THREE MILE CURVE — Eleven students from Ralph R. Willis Career & Technical Center (RRWCTC) participated in the annual SkillsUSA State Championship competitions. The annual competition determines the “best of the best” from many programs of study for students throughout the state.

SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations fields. It sponsors the SkillsUSA Championship competitions annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen fields.

The annual two-day competition was held this year at the James Rumsey Institute of Technology in Martinsburg. The students represented all three-high schools — Chapmanville Regional High, Logan High and Man High.

Brandon Gibson and Mark Lawson, students from Mrs. Keathley’s Computer Technology program, won bronze medals (3rd place) in the Web Design competition. The competition required students to design, develop, and publish at minimum a five-page web site.

John Sansone and Mike Wilson, students from Mrs. Keathley’s Computer Technology program and members of the FIRST Robotics Team 337 (mentors, Peggy Vance and Becky Keathley), won silver medals (2nd place) in the Robotics and Automation Technology program. The competition required students to create a mobile robot that could retrieve garbage from trashcans and move it to dumpsters located around the playing field both autonomously and while under human operation.

Chris Mitchell, a student Mr. Wilcox’s HVAC&R program, won a silver medal (2nd place) in the HVAC&R competition. The competition required students to use their skills in brazing, refrigerant component service, air measurement and troubleshooting, refrigerant recovery and electrical troubleshooting.

Other programs at RRWCTC were also represented at the completion:

• Cody Cresong from Mr. James Motes’ Auto Service Technology program competed in the Auto Service Technology competition

• Deanna Miller from Mr. Kenneth Marcum’s Collision Repair program competed in the Collision Repair competition

• Zachary Harvey from Eddie Kirkendoll’s Electrical Technology program competed in the Electrical Construction Wiring competition

• Cassandra Mullins from Mrs. Becky Keathley’s Computer Technology program competed in the Job Demonstration Open competition

• Brooke Seigman from Mrs. Becky Keathley’s Computer Technology program competed in the Technical Computer Applications competition

• Chris Lell from Mrs. Becky Keathley’s Computer Technology program competed in the Computer Maintenance Technology competition

RRWCTC would like to thank everyone who helped make it possible for the students to participate. The students of RRWCTC worked throughout the school year to help raise proceeds to offset the costs of the competitions.