“(They) competed in a predominately male competition to win first and second place in the state.” said Kelly Herzog, public information coordinator for MVCTC. “The contest requires contestants perform 12 tasks that represent the types of maintenance they will handle in the aircraft industry. The contest scope is consistent with the airframe and powerplant mechanics certification guide published by the Federal Aviation Administration.”
Before competing at the SkillsUSA championship, Pompeii didn’t view aviation maintenance as an actual job and instead wanted to become an aerospace engineer. But, now she says she would like to work as a technician in college or as a side job.
“I chose aviation maintenance because growing up my dad would always bring me out to the hangar and I fell in love with airplanes,” Pompeii said. “Then in middle school I did Science Olympiad and started to get into designing/building balsa wood airplanes. I decided to go to MVCTC to further my knowledge on how aircraft work, to help me in my pursuit of becoming an aerospace engineer.”
More than 2,000 students from all over Ohio competed in 81 technical contests during the event and 10 from the region earned gold medals. Area students also won 41 silver medals and 31 bronze medals.
Students were given scores by a panel of judges from business, industry and education fields. Only gold medal winners will go on to compete in the national SkillsUSA championship June 22-26 in Louisville, Ky.
The gold medalists were Megan Miller from MVCTC in Advertising Design; Dylan Kolb, John Corwell and Kelsey McClure from Greenville Senior High School in Career Pathways Showcase in Transportation; Allison Gilbreth from Springfield-Clark CTC in Dental Assisting; Sierra Hoffman from Butler Technology and Career Development Schools in First Aid/CPR; Alisha Bell from Upper Valley Career Center in Graphic Communications; Andrew Shupert from Warren County Career Center in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, & Refrigeration; Yen Nguyen and Jesse Orlando from Stebbins High School in Humanoid Robotics; Jesse Lewis, Connor Bresnahan, Nathan Nelson, and Dylan Mills from Butler Tech School of the Arts in Performing Arts; Jesse Ly from MVCTC in Photography; Rayna Huffman from MVCTC in Prepared Speech; Dale Garber from Upper Valley Career Center in Sheet Metal; and Jesse Hammond from MVCTC in Postsecondary Level Sheet Metal.
After their success at the SkillsUSA championship, some of the students have decided to take on leadership roles through the organization’s MVCTC chapter. Pompeii will be vice president of the chapter next school year.
“I am thankful that I got the chance to compete with the top students in my field in Ohio, and I am very excited to compete with the top students in the nation.” said Pompeii. “I look forward to the experience and the chance to meet others that made it to the same point.”
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