(WACO, Texas) – February brings its share of cold weather to Texas, but for high school students taking part in SkillsUSA, things are about to heat up.
Four of Texas State Technical College’s campuses will host secondary district SkillsUSA Texas contests during the month.
“We have been doing this (hosting) for a while and have been trying to perfect it,” said Brian Bohannon, TSTC’s statewide SkillsUSA manager. “We are constantly growing. That comes from us managing it and doing it right.”
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1965 teaching employability, leadership and technical skills that can help middle school, high school and college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 leadership and technical competitions.
The Fort Bend County campus in Rosenberg will host welding events for District 9 from Thursday, Feb. 6, to Saturday, Feb. 8. The district encompasses several Southeast Texas counties, excluding Harris County.
“Having high school SkillsUSA competitions at TSTC is a great way to give students a glimpse of what to expect after high school if they are interested in pursuing a career in their field,” said Jamie Dalgetty, TSTC’s SkillsUSA coordinator in Fort Bend County and an instructional business manager in the Welding Technology program there.
The East Williamson County campus in Hutto will host events in culinary arts, criminal justice, health care, information technology, manufacturing and robotics for District 10 from Thursday, Feb. 13, to Saturday, Feb. 15. The district is made up of school districts in the Hill Country.
“Hosting high school students in SkillsUSA competitions … helps us showcase our facilities, our advanced technology, and all the resources we have,” said Eric Jackson, TSTC’s SkillsUSA coordinator in East Williamson County and an instructor in the Cybersecurity program and the Computer Networking and Systems Administration program.
The Waco campus will host many events for Districts 5 and 6, which are formed by school districts in Central and East Texas, from Wednesday, Feb. 19, to Saturday, Feb. 22. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the BASE at Extraco Events Center in Waco.
TSTC’s Harlingen campus will host several events for District 13 from Thursday, Feb. 27, to Saturday, March 1. The district comprises counties in the Rio Grande Valley, along with Brooks, Jim Hogg, Kenedy and Zapata counties.
District winners are eligible to compete at the SkillsUSA Texas State Leadership and Skills Conference taking place April 2-5 in Corpus Christi. TSTC is a title sponsor of the conference.
State winners are eligible to compete at the 2025 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in late June in Atlanta, Georgia.
For more information on SkillsUSA Texas, go to skillsusatx.org.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
