A group of Statesboro High School students are advancing to state after their construction skills earned them top awards in the regional Southeast Georgia Skills Challenge held recently at the Bulloch County Agricultural Complex.
On November 12, after competing against more than 200 students from 20 different area high schools, these skilled teens placed in the top three of their respective events:
- Jackson Lewis, third-place, blueprint reading; Henry Lanier, second-place, cabinetry;
- Luke Wallace, first-place, cabinetry;
- Murray DiNello, second-place, electrical;
- Kaylen Johnson, third-place, masonry;
- Cole Phillips, second-place, plumbing;
- Enrique Mendez, second-place, roofing; and
- Jerry Aguiliar, Blain Akin, Jack Blackmon, and Nathan Waters, first-place, teamworks build.
The group will now compete in the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center in February 2025.
“It is exciting to see how well these students are doing applying what they’ve been taught in the classroom,” said Bethany Gillian, director of Career, Technical & Agricultural Education for Bulloch County Schools.
The event is not only a competition, but a unique way for students to network with area skilled trades employers, who are seeking their future workforce.
Regional qualifying Skills Challenges are hosted annually by the Associated General Contractors of Georgia (AGC Georgia), Ace Electric, Inc.; Choate Construction Company and West Construction Company and held in eight regions across the state. Overall more than 2,300 students from nearly 100 schools compete in blueprint reading, carpentry, electrical, heavy machinery, masonry, plumbing, roofing and welding. The Bulloch County event invites students from high school construction programs in the following counties: Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne and Wheeler.
AGC Georgia is a professional trade association and the statewide chapter affiliated with The Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. AGC Georgia member firms perform a majority of the public and private commercial construction work in Georgia and include 600 of the top general contractors, residential/light commercial builders, construction managers, design-builders, municipal-utility contractors, heavy and highway contractors, specialty contractors, service providers, and suppliers. The Architecture & Construction career pathway at Statesboro High School is part of Bulloch County Schools’ Career Technical & Agricultural Education program which consists of 43 different career pathways with course offerings to develop the future workforce. At Statesboro High School the Architecture & Construction career pathway courses are taught by Josh Hall, who also serves as the school’s SkillsUSA advisor, a national student technical organization. More than 1,500 Bulloch County high school students are enrolled in at least one career pathway course.
