PIRCTC students bring home gold,
silver medals from skills competition
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
SEVEN STUDENTS from the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center (PIRCTC) attended the National SkillsUSA Competition June 19-26 in Kansas City; three of them returned with honors in their contests. Pictured are, from left: Jessica Stepp, who received a gold medal in the pin design contest; photography student Mackenzie Pinette, who earned Best in Show overall with a photograph she took of her grandfather’s hands; and Cassie Murchison, who earned a silver medal in the preschool teacher assistant contest. Amy White, SkillsUSA adviser at PIRCTC, said these were the school’s first medals in at least 15 years.
PRESQUE ISLE – If you ask 18-year-old Jessica Stepp what her favorite color is, the recent Presque Isle High School graduate is likely to reply “gold.”
At the National SkillsUSA Competition held June 19-26 in Kansas City, Stepp received a gold medal in the pin design contest.
“We pretty much had to come up with a design that would represent the state,” said Stepp, who was a student in the business program at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center (PIRCTC). “In order to go to nationals, you have to win a gold medal at the state level first. Because I won the state competition, my design will be the state pin next year.
“My design is an outline of the state of Maine with mountains and a pine tree in snow,” she said. “At the nationals, I competed against 21 other people. I thought I was going to at least be in the top 10, but nowhere higher than number two. I was really shocked when they called my name. This is actually the first year they did pin design at the national level, so I was really happy to be the first.”
As if winning a gold medal wasn’t memorable enough, this was the first time Stepp had ever flown.
“The flight there was pretty good,” she said, “but on the way back it was stressful. People got in line an hour before their flight left, so the lines got to be a challenge.”
The gold medalist encourages other students to participate in the local SkillsUSA chapter.
“It will really help them out,” she said. “It helped me realize what kind of businesses are out there and it got me more involved at my school.”
Stepp said she plans on attending the University of Maine at Presque Isle in the fall where she will study either criminal justice or social work.
Cassie Murchison, 18, a student in the early childhood program at PIRCTC, earned a national silver medal in the preschool teacher assistant contest.
“They gave us the curriculum area; I had to do science. We had three hours to do it – you had to make the outline of a lesson plan with your objectives, what you want them to learn, the materials you need and how you’re going to teach it,” she said. “Then I had to teach to a teddy bear … that was my student. It was a little embarrassing. I had to teach to a teddy bear at the state competition, too, so at least I had done it before.
“Had there been a choice, I would rather teach to kids because they’re someone to respond to you and you know if you’re doing well or not. It wasn’t that bad; I kind of forgot that the judges were there,” said Murchison. “I just focused on the teddy bear.”
Murchison competed against 23 other high school students.
“I missed gold by 11.5 points … I checked,” she laughed. “There were six areas we were judged on. There were three areas that I did better than the girl who received the gold, and three areas that she did better than me. One that I know she did better at was overall personality; I was really shy and I made sure the judges knew that ahead of time.
“I’m really happy with the silver medal,” said Murchison. “I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t think I was going to medal, so I wasn’t paying attention when they called my name. I was having a conversation with the girl next to me and all of a sudden she started screaming. I was excited.”
Murchison, who also graduated from PIHS in June, will be attending UMPI this fall.
“I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but I kind of changed my mind a little bit,” she said. “I’m going to take some core classes and then go to Orono for speech pathology with a focus on kids.”
Seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Pinette, a student in the photography program at PIRCTC, earned Best in Show overall with a photograph she took of her grandfather’s hands.
“This was my first year in the photography program,” said Pinette, who will be a senior at PIHS in the fall. “I’ve always been taking pictures … now I’m actually serious about it.
“I got the idea to photograph my grandfather’s hands after looking at a photography website,” she said. “I took the idea and ran with it.”
At the National SkillsUSA Competition, students were allowed to display two pieces. In addition to the winning photo, Pinette opted to bring a photo of “a girl with a daisy in front of her eye with really cool makeup on.”
Pinette said she felt “really good” about earning a Best in Show designation.
“I competed against both college and high school students and there was about 45 of us,” she said. “It felt good to be the best.”
For her efforts, Pinette received a laptop case and a personal planner.
Amy White, SkillsUSA adviser at PIRCTC, was thrilled that her students did so well at nationals.
“Local students went to nationals for many years from our school when it was Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA),” said White. “There was a name change in 1997 to SkillsUSA, and right along we’ve been pretty consistent in attending the national competition, but these were our first medals in at least 15 years.
“I know how hard all of the students worked and to see them honored for their hard work is worth all of the efforts we put into a successful SkillsUSA club at our school,” said White.
While in Kansas City, the students ate at restaurants, shopped and did some sightseeing. In addition to attending competitions, students are also very active in community service projects. Currently the club is co-sponsoring a major building project at the school.
Other PIRCTC students who attended the national competition included Lorraine Hughes and Naiomi Donovan (promotional bulletin board), Lucas Boucher (masonry) and Dylan Mountain (employment application process).
The Turner Foundation, Presque Isle Kiwanis Club, Griffeth Honda, Hedrich Vending, Carroll’s Auto Sales and Percy’s Auto Sales made generous donations toward the students’ trip.
For more information about SkillsUSA, log onto www.skillsmaine.org or www.skillsusa.org.
WHILE IN KANSAS CITY attending the National SkillsUSA Competition, Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center students posed for a photo against the city skyline. Pictured are, from left: Dylan Mountain, Mackenzie Pinette, Lorraine Hughes, Cassie Murchison, Naiomi Donovan, Lucas Boucher and Jessica Stepp.
