While many see at the Appalachian Fair as a chance to relax and have fun, several local students saw it as a chance to show off their skills and hard work.

Students from two Carter County High Schools recently competed in a variety of contests at the Fair designed to test their skills in their Career and Technical Education programs. Many of the students captured awards in the events to mark their success.

Students in the Agriculture Program at Happy Valley High School competed in the Livestock Judging Competition at the Fair, with the team of Maia Nelson, Lily Milam, Morgan Hyatt, and Mariah Presnell capturing first place for the event.

The students are scored individually, and then their scores are combined to select the top team. Milam placed as a Top 10 high scoring individual.

The students were led by the HVHS Agriculture teacher Cathy Selbert.

Another group of students in a different Agriculture Program also won honors during the Fair.

The Cloudland High School Future Farmers of America Chapter competed in the Dairy Cattle Judging event at the Appalachian Fair. The students observe and judge three classes of dairy cattle ranging from juvenile to mature dairy cows.

Three Cloudland FFA members ranked in the Top 10 for the event based on their individual scores. Hope McKinney, a freshman at CHS ranked as the 10th highest individual. Hope Russell, a senior, ranked as the 8th highest individual. Jesika Harrison, also a senior, landed the 6th highest individual ranking. Russell and  Harrison were on the same team, and they placed third overall for the event with their teammates Lexi Gibbs and Amber Webb.

The Cloudland students were led by their FFA Chapter Advisor and CHS Agriculture teacher Lauren Turbyfill.

Students from the Welding Program at Happy Valley High School brought several awards home to their school from the Fair. The students taking part in the welding competition were Brad Akins, Ty Pierce, Eli Fleenor, Landon Morefield, Nathaniel Nickles, Lane Kyte, Dakota Gobble, Austin Ayers, Will Tittle, Timmy Tipton, Tyrell Blose, Austin Hamby, and Nick Hughes.

Tipton captured second place honors in the weld sculpture competition. Blose garnered first place for his fillet weld. Hamby won first place for his three-quarter lap weld. Hughes brought back first place for his verticle fillet weld.

The welding students were led by Mark Watson, the welding teacher at Happy Valley.

Students in the Electrical Program at Happy Valley swept the top placements — capturing first, second, and third — for their electrical light panels. The group also placed as the runner-up for the top CTE award with their charging station they crafted and wired using a fence post.

Students competing in the electrical event were Joshua Radford, Hannah Moore, Kai Norman, Jaylon Clark, and Timothy Tipton. The students were led by HVHS Electrical teacher James Monroe.