Welding, radio bring home gold

While the bulk of College of Eastern Utah’s students were on summer vacation, 10 students traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to compete in the SkillsUSA Championships. Students participated in both secondary and post-secondary divisions for their competitions.
Bringing home gold medals in the College/Postsecondary Audio (Radio) Production competition were Sheraya Barajas from Orem, and Kelton Wells from Price.
Their two-day competition took them to a World Cup viewing event in downtown Kansas City. They collected interviews and the sounds of the event and then prepared a 60-second news story about the event, winning their competition by a clear margin. Their award-winning piece can be heard by going to the college radio station’s web site at theedge.ceu.edu. Barajas and Wells carry on a proud seven-year tradition for Utah being undefeated at the national championship in audio production. They are the second set of national champions from CEU.
Also continuing a proud tradition, CEU Welding was well represented by two teams in the welding fabrication competition. Bringing home gold medals in the high school competition were Damian Olsen, Dexter Thayn and Austin Welch (each from Carbon County). And bringing home silver medals in the college/postsecondary competition were Chad Cloward (Wellington), Shawn Devereaux (Elmo) and Taylor Behling (Emery County).
As teams, they were provided materials and had to build a BBQ grill. They were judged in quality of workmanship and effectiveness of teamwork during the project.
Bringing home a silver medal in the college/postsecondary individual welding contest was Dylan Olson of Helper. In this competition Olson was challenged to show proficiency in a wide variety of standard welding practices.
Also representing CEU Welding was Jesse Bigelow (East Carbon) who placed fourth in the secondary welding contest. This is the best placement for Utah schools in the last decade.
CEU’s Welding teams have consistently brought home medals in the SkillsUSA Championships for the past five years.
In order to represent Utah at the SkillsUSA Championships, each team and individual must compete and be awarded gold in the state competitions. They are then invited to represent the state as well as their respective schools. Overall, Utah representatives brought back medals in 37 different competitions.
Skills USA Championships is a multi-million dollar event that occupies a space equivalent to 16 football fields. Nearly 1,500 judges and contest organizers from labor and management annually help make the national event possible.
“Over 5,600 students from every state in the nation came to compete in the SkillsUSA Championships this week,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Tim Lawrence. “This is the SkillsUSA partnership at its best. Students, instructors and industries are working together to ensure America has a skilled work force and every student excels. These students prove that career and technical education expands opportunities.”