Wednesday morning, students at Hampton High School received a special visit from a state education official who came to praise the accomplishments of a group of the school’s students.
Tracy Whitehead, the Career and Technical Education Specialist with the Tennessee Department of Education, was joined by local education officials in honoring Hampton’s 2015-16 SkillsUSA competition team for earning several state and national honors. As part of her job with the state, Whitehead works with the SkillsUSA organization.
“It’s one of your career technical organizations that gets you ready for your career in America,” Whitehead told the students during a special assembly. “Our goal is to make you world class workers.”
During the 2015-16 school year, several students from Hampton competed in the state level SkillsUSA event and earned the right to move on to the national competition. Some of those students graduated in May while others are still at Hampton High.
As part of the special assembly, members of the SkillsUSA team were honored as Whitehead read off their achievements to their classmates. All of the students who placed in the nationals attained a score that placed them in the top 2 percent of SkillsUSA competitors across the country, Whitehead said.
• John Cole graduated in May. He won the state championship in Architectural Drafting and placed 12th in the national contest.
• Ryan Kelly is currently a senior. He won the state championship in Technical Drafting and placed 27th in the national contest.
• Ian Kelly is currently a senior. He won the state championship in Job Skills Demonstration A and placed 11th in the national contest.
• Alex Marlow, who graduated in May, and Philip Arrington, who is currently a senior, competed as a team. Together they won the state championship in Additive Manufacturing and placed 13th in the national contest.
• Ellie Campbell graduated in May. She won the state championship in First Aid/CPR and placed 15th in the nation.
• Brooklyn Ashley is currently a senior. She won the state championship in Dental Assisting but was not able to attend the national event to compete.
• Kane Phillips graduated in May. He placed second in the state competition in Job Interview.
• Austin Boling is a senior. He placed third in the state competition in Medical Terminology.
• Caitlin Carrico graduated in May. She competed at the state level in Related Technical Math but did not place.
Four members of the SkillsUSA Team — Alex Marlow, Ryan Kelly, Ian Kelly, and Philip Arrington — earned Mike Rowe Scholarships to help them with the cost of attending their national events.
“You had the highest level of Mike Rowe Scholarships,” Whithead told the students. Hampton’s team tied with Adairsville, Ga., and Oxford Hills Technical School in Norway, Maine, for the most winners in the nation in the high school division. Hampton was one of only two high school programs in the state to capture Mike Rowe Scholarships.
In addition to the student’s individual achievements, the team as a whole was honored as the Most Outstanding Chapter in their division for the state, capturing the prestigious Dr. Gerald LaBorde State Championship award.
The award is given out to the school in each of the three divisions that has the most placements in the state level contests. Hampton High School won the award for Division II.
During the special assembly, Whitehead introduced the students to representatives of two of the Hampton program’s community sponsors for the SkillsUSA Team — SnapOn Tools and Beeson, Lusk & Street Architects.
“You have a tremendous heritage of skill here and I think that is demonstrated by these awards,” said Tony Street, of Beeson, Lusk & Street. “I am very honored and privileged to be able to contributed to this program.”
Robin Pritchard with SnapOn also praised the work of the students and encouraged them to follow their passions to find a career they enjoy.
“We are proud to be a part of the process of helping you develop these skills,” Pritchard said. “There are so many opportunities out there.”
Hampton High School Principal Jeff Bradley thanked SnapOn and Beeson, Lusk & Street for their support of the programs. The sponsorships help the school and students pay for the costs of attending the state and national competitions.
“We could never send these students without our sponsors,” Bradley said.