“Edison has been doing the SkillsUSA Competitions for four years. This is our fifth year participating. These competitions allow us to showcase our CTE programs and the skills of our students. There are competitions in every CTE field. There are also leadership competitions that students can participate in,” stated Mr. Kalloo, the leader of our SkillsUSA chapter at Edison. In procedural order, Edison students compete in their chosen competition, and the winners get to participate in the state round of competitions, which is held in Syracuse.  Here they will compete against SkillsUSA members from other schools, with hopes of making their way to nationals, which is held in Kentucky.  

Each and every competition is skill-oriented.  Whether it’s shop class based or personality based, all competitions require some level of skill and self confidence.  Mahendra Pruitt, an active SkillsUSA member and avid competitor, shines light on what it really takes to be competition ready. “On the outside, some competitions seem really easy to do, but in fact, every competitor has to train and practice really hard to place at the regionals or state competitions.”

For instance, the exemplary speaking competition requires extremely sound speaking skills. Quizbowl requires extensive knowledge on trivia topics. Pruitt previously took part in the opening and closing ceremony.  He stated, “In opening and closing, you need to have extremely good teamwork and be able to talk very well. Competitions on the whole are extremely hard and requires a certain level of proficiency to actually perform well.”

Mr. Kalloo added that, “These competitions boost school spirit, encourages students to excel in their trade area, creates well rounded members of the workforce. It also shows what an amazing school we have. It proves that we have some the most exceptional students, teachers, administrators and programs city-wide.”

Mahendra Pruitt described the competition as, “It’s no joke upstate because you’re all going for the same thing and they will be the highest placing competitors from each regional competition, so you know for sure that it will be intense.”  

According to Mr. Kalloo, “Edison has had great success in the competition at all three levels. Last year we won the most medals than any other school at the city level. We took a total of 56 students to the state level with a total of 7 Gold Medalists who advanced to the national level. At the Nationals level our Cisco program placed.”

Pruitt went on to say that, “The amount of effort put in by each competitor is shown by the fact that edison destroys every school at regionals and we always have filled busses that go to syracuse.”

So why compete? Mr. Kalloo stated it best by saying, “I believe that winning is based on the individual. If you truly want something your motivation and dedication will be the key to success.”

Below are the winners for the 2016 SkillsUSA Citywide Championships:

Advertising Design 

1st Anika Baldeo

2nd Anderson Altinama

Architectural Drafting

1st Ayman Azad

2nd Derrick Paul

3rd Francis Rodriguez

Automotive Service Technology

1st Nicholas Bhurasingh

3rd Gavin Balkaran

Auto Vehicle Maintainence Basic

1st Jose Tavarez

Banner

1st Sarika Persaud

1st Shivanand Netram

Chapter Display

1st Nila Singh

1st Zafar Seenauth

1st Alyssa Mitchell

First Aid

1st Abidah Hansraj

Information Technologies

1st Derick Naraine

2nd Nitin Kumar

Internetworking

1st Mengting Xia

2nd Devon Ramdial

Job Demonstration Open

1st James Cordy

Job Interiew

1st Zaviel Young

Mobile Robotics

1st Anil Parbhudial

1st Rikkie Ray Garcia

Opening and Closing Ceremonies

1st Bedzabeth Pego

1st Saudia Rasheed

1st Gloria Bermo

1st Mahendra Pruitt

1st Nadira Khan

1st Anuradha Gobin

1st Turjaun Kaber

Photography

1st Sushmeta Peters

2nd Katherine Alvarez

Promotional Bulletin Board

1st Tunisha Haque

1st Liyya Seekwar

Quiz Bowl

1st Deena Ramkaran

1st Nikhil Pal

1st Arvind Kaur

1st Makeba Noble

1st Adam Mohammed

Technical Computer Applications

1st Yulini Persaud

2nd Farez Ahmed

Pin Design

2nd Derick Narine

Prepared Speech 

2nd Joaly Burgos

T-Shirt Design Contest

2nd Vishal Samlall

Auto Vehicle Maintainence Basic 

3rd Douglas Combest

Extemporaneous Speaking 

3rd Nafisha Syeda

Job Demonstration A 

3rd Alisa Das

Job Demonstration Open

3rd Bhoj Chandr