ST. GEORGE — Two Crimson Cliffs High School students were recently honored for their innovations at the SkillsUSA Championships 2023 in Georgia.
Thousands of students competed June 2021 at the nation’s premier showcase for youth-inspired career and technical education.
The SkillsUSA Championships is the largest skill competition in the world covering 1.79 million square feet, or the equivalent of 41 acres.
“More than 6,000 students from every state in the nation participated in the 2023 SkillsUSA Championships,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis in a news release. “This showcase of career and technical education demonstrates SkillsUSA at its finest. Our students, instructors and industry partners work together to ensure that every student excels. This program also expands learning and career opportunities for our members.”
A total of 1,250 gold, silver and bronze medals were presented to students on Friday, June 23 at the SkillsUSA Awards presentation. Many students also received industry prizes, tools for their trade or scholarships. Click here to view promo video.
Ellie Brinkerhoff of St. George was awarded the high school silver medal in T-shirt design. And Washington City resident Rylee Mitchell was awarded a Skill Point Certificate in pin design. The Skill Point Certificate represents workplace readiness in the occupational specialty and students can add the certificate to their employment portfolio as an indicator of proficiency, according to a news release.
St. George News spoke with Carly Everett, a graphics and photography instructor at Crimson Cliffs High School, who said three students from the school earned the honor of attending this year’s competition.
Brinkerhoff, who also competes in cross county and softball for the Mustangs, started amberroseclothing.com and markets a clothing line of her own designs, all while still in high school, Everett said. Brinkerhoff plans on attending Southern Utah University in the fall.
“Some of what she did at the national competition was not only to show her design but discuss with the judges the whole design process, from color choices to how the design represents her state,” she said.
Mitchell competes in both soccer and track and field for the Mustangs when not competing in skills challenges, Everett said. She was also the 2022-23 Career and Technical Education Sterling Scholar recipient at CCHS with plans to attend Brigham Young University.
“At the national competition she also discussed the whole design process to the judges,” she said.
A third student, Logan Thompson, won a gold medal at the state competition in graphic communication and made the trip to Atlanta to compete with classmates.
“He competed for three days straight at the national level doing things from setting up files to print to finalizing designs and print orders,” Everett said. “He will be attending BYU-Hawaii this fall.”
The SkillsUSA Championships are held annually for students in middle school, high school or college/postsecondary programs as part of the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference.
The national, nonprofit partnership of students, instructors and industry is a verified talent pipeline for America’s skilled workforce that is working to help solve the skills gap.
“If we want to build an economy that works for all Americans, we must create more pathways to high-paying jobs,” Miguel Cardona, U.S. secretary of education, said in a news release. “That means helping more students experience the magic of career and technical education. Now is our moment to partner like never before.”
A vital solution to the skills gap — where more in-demand skilled trades positions are available than qualified professionals to fill them — SkillsUSA has served more 14 million difference-making students since 1965.
U.S. Army Gen. Jeffrey Snow attended the student displays in Atlanta and said the future is bright for American youth.
“If you spend time with the young men and women in SkillsUSA and you see just how talented they are, you become very optimistic about the future,” he said in a news release.
Photo Gallery
Crimson Cliffs High School student Ellie Brinkerhoff receiving a silver medal in Atlanta at the SkillsUSA Championships on June 23, 2023 | Photo by Carly Everett, St. George News Ellie Brinkerhoff and her t-shirt design presentation at the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, June 21, 2023 | Photo by Carly Everett, St. George News Crimson Cliffs High School students Ellie Brinkerhoff, Rylee Mitchell, Logan Thompson, and instructor Carly Everett, at the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, June 23, 2023 | Photo by Carly Everett, St. George News Rylee Mitchell and her pin design presentation at the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, June 21, 2023 | Photo by Carly Everett, St. George News Crimson Cliffs High School students at the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20, 2023 | Photo by Carly Everett, St. George News Utah students at the SkillsUSA Championships on June 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy SkillsUSA Utah, St. George News Utah students in Atlanta at the SkillsUSA Championships on June 19, 2023 | Photo courtesy SkillsUSA Utah, St. George News Utah students at the SkillsUSA Championships on June 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy SkillsUSA Utah, St. George News
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