OTC technical education students brought home 61 medals from the annual Southwest Missouri SkillsUSA District Competition. The event was held Feb. 2-26 at several regional locations, including the OTC Springfield Campus.
More than 90 OTC students competed alongside hundreds of technical education students from across the district. Competitors showcased their skills by completing written and hands-on tests in categories such as automotive refinishing, culinary arts, technical drafting and welding fabrication.
“Despite the challenges surrounding COVID-19, we didn’t want to lose the exciting, in-person element of this year’s competition,” said Cindy Phillips, coordinator of high school technical education programs. “Through masking, contact tracing, social distancing and other protective measures, we were able to create a safe, close-to-normal event for our students.”
SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations.
OTC’s secondary and post-secondary winners from the district competition are listed below. The first-place winners are eligible to advance to the virtual SkillsUSA state competition, which will be held in April.
Congratulations to our regional winners!
| Hands-on Competition | Name | Place | Division |
| Architectural Drafting | Shannon Buffington | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Cody Wallen | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Austin Calvin | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Automotive Refinishing | Kameron Kivett | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Automotive Refinishing | John Yudin | 2nd | Secondary |
| Automotive Refinishing | Adam Johnson | 3rd | Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Tanner Wells | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Dalen Coonrod | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Sean Gross | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Luke Bryant | 1st | Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Jacob Evans | 2nd | Secondary |
| Automotive Service | Dylan Corless | 3rd | Secondary |
| Collision Repair Technology | Teofil Iacob | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Collision Repair Technology | Aiden Farthing | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Collision Repair Technology | Keola Bailey | 2nd | Secondary |
| Commercial Baking | Ashley Elrod | 1st | Secondary |
| Computer Programming | Isaac Kirk | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Computer Programming | Hieu Dang | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Computer Programming | Aaron Young | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Computer Programming | Jacob Angel | 1st | Secondary |
| HVAC | Joseph McCroskey | 1st | Secondary |
| HVAC | Andrea Bardot | 3rd | Secondary |
| Internetworking | Lance Garrison | 1st | Post Secondary |
| IT Services | Logan Valentine | 1st | Post Secondary |
| IT Services | Kolby Crisp | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| IT Services | Joseph Nachtigal | 2nd | Secondary |
| Technical Drafting | Eric Fausto | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Technical Drafting | Reza Gilman | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Telecommunications Cabling | Gabriel Hamlet | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Web Design | Nylah Rogers, Elizabeth Carroll | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Welding | Max Scott | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Welding | John Richards | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Welding | Jordan Heiserman | 1st | Secondary |
| Written Competition | Name | Place | Division |
| Architectural Drafting | Jill Burrow | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Cody Wallen | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Shannon McKaig Buffington | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Austin Calvin | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Architectural Drafting | Corban Fouse | 2nd | Secondary |
| Collision Repair | Kameron Kivett | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Computer Networking | Lance Garrison | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Computer Repair Tech | Gabriel Hamlet | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Computer Repair Tech | Logan Valentine | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Computer Repair Tech | Kolby Crisp | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Diesel Equipment | Bradley Childers | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Diesel Equipment | Chad Harvey | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Diesel Equipment | Nikolas Monteiro | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Early Childhood | Payton Beeler | 1st | Secondary |
| Intro to Drafting | Eric Fausto | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Intro to Drafting | Reza Gilman | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Intro to Drafting | Skye Jackson | 3rd | Post Secondary |
| Medical Math | Austyne Murray | 2nd | Secondary |
| Medical Math | Sierra Crabb | 3rd | Secondary |
| Medical Terminology | Olivia Sprague | 2nd | Secondary |
| Technical Spelling | Kaylee Price | 3rd | Secondary |
| Television Production | Nora Powell | 1st | Secondary |
| Television Production | Andrew Robinson | 2nd | Secondary |
| Television Production | Logan Coble | 3rd | Secondary |
| Welding Tech | Max Scott | 1st | Post Secondary |
| Welding Tech | John Richards | 2nd | Post Secondary |
| Welding Tech | Jayk Gatlin | 3rd | Secondary |