Kishwaukee College students earned several top ten place finishes, including four students who were first place winners, in the Annual SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership Conference and Championships held in Springfield on April 3 – 5. The First Place winners – Mike Zimbrich in Power Equipment Technology and the team of Susanna Herrmann, Penny Ingalls, and Emerald Fannin in Crime Scene Investigation – will compete at the 50th National SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and Championships that will be held in Kansas City, MO on June 23 – 27.
SkillsUSA is a national, state, regional, and local organization for technical, skilled, health and personal service occupations students in high school and college. SkillsUSA has over 300,000 members in over 14,000 chapters in 55 state and territorial associations including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. In Illinois, there are seven regions with 88 high school and college chapters representing 225 training sections.
Photo Caption: Kishwaukee College students participated in the SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership Conference and Championships held in Springfield on April 3 – 5. Four Kishwaukee students – Mike Zimbrich in Power Equipment Technology and the team of Susanna Herrmann, Penny Ingalls, and Emerald Fannin in Crime Scene Investigation – will compete at the 50th National SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and SkillsUSA Championships in June. Pictured are the several of the competing students, back row L to R: Matt Falco, Genoa; Josh Nuxoll, Genoa; Brandon Snodgrass, Ashton; Mike Zimbrich, Darien; and Josh Scott, Kingston; front row, L to R: Emerald Fannin, Sycamore; Susanna Herrmann, Malta; Penny Ingalls, Sycamore; Patricia Stensrud, Kingston; and Vicki Finnell, Cortland. Not pictured are Luis Sarabia, Cary; Jacob Hengels, Kingston; Joe Gress, Lemont; Seth Larsen, Ashton; and Shenika Perkins-Halmon, DeKalb.
Kishwaukee College students competed against community college students from across the state. In all, there were nearly 1500 registered participants in Springfield, plus 300 business, industry, organized labor and education professionals supporting the competitors.
The students competed in a wide range of events, including Leadership Development Contests, Skilled and Technical Science Contests, Health Contests, and Occupationally-Related Contests. Kishwaukee College sent student competitors in several areas.
Greg Brink, faculty advisor to the SkillsUSA chapter at Kishwaukee College, said, “We took 15 students to the state competition and 11 of those students medalled, meaning they placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their competition, and all 15 placed in the top ten. Plus we swept the top five places in Power Equipment Tech and the top two places in Crime Scene Investigation, which is a team competition. We have four students in two fields going on to Nationals. Those four students finished first in their fields, that means they represent the top 3% of SkillsUSA students in the nation. We are really proud of our team.”
Kishwaukee College students who placed at the Illinois SkillsUSA competition were: Automotive Refinishing – Matt Falco, 2nd Place; Collision Repair – Luis Sarabia, 5th Place and Jacob Hengels, 6th Place; Power Equipment Technology – Mike Zimbrich, 1st Place, Brandon Snodgrass, 2nd Place, Joshua Nuxoll, 3rd Place, Joe Gress, 4th Place, and Seth Larsen, 5th Place; Criminal Justice – Josh Scott, 3rd Place; and Crime Scene Investigation (Team competition) – Susanna Herrmann, Penny Ingalls, and Emerald Fannin, 1st Place and Patricia Stensrud, Shenika Perkins-Halmon, and Vicki Finnell, 2nd Place.
Students were recognized for their achievements at a special Awards Ceremony held on April 5 in Springfield. Winners received gold, silver, and bronze medallions as well as other awards—tools, equipment, prizes and scholarships—donated by education, labor, and management organizations which support SkillsUSA.
For more information on SkillsUSA at Kishwaukee College, contact Greg Brink at 815-825-2086, ext. 3280 or at gregory.brink@kishwaukeecollege.edu.
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story