LHS students achieve breakthrough performances in Skills USA contest

Lahainaluna High School students earned medals at the Skills USA state competition.
LAHAINA – The tradition of success at Lahainaluna High School continues as the student representatives at the 2014 Career & Technical Student Organization (CTSO) shined on with their efforts in this year’s event held at the Hawaii Convention Center on Feb. 19-20.
Seven students represented Lahainaluna’s Skills USA program, a nationally recognized organization that teaches students leadership and technical skills in a variety of careers. This year’s participants competed in a variety of technical skills challenges such as architectural drafting, carpentry and VEX Mobile Robotics Automation.
Levi Delos Reyes, Garielle Catugal and Shelley Kurose participated in the Architectural Drafting event with Mike Sado serving as their advisor; Bronson Vierra and Justin Bishop Tinao competed in carpentry with the guidance of Jeremy Delos Reyes; and Allen Constantino and Mark Cabida entered the VEX Robotics Automation category aided by Randy Arakawa.
All students were asked to complete a 100-question written test to demonstrate knowledge proficiency in their area of study.
In the drafting event, competitors demonstrated their knowledge and skills using computer-aided drafting to create a set of documents (floor plans, elevations, wall section details and more) for a scenario.
In an unprecedented accomplishment, the Lahainaluna entries swept the competition, with Levi Delos Reyes winning the gold medal, Catugal the runner-up and Kurose bringing home the bronze.
The challenge in the carpentry competition involved reading a set of blueprints of a shed and demonstrating the knowledge and technical skills in the field to build the scaled-down house using power and hand tools.
Here, Vierra led the field to take first place. Tinao won the bronze medal in the category.
For the robotics division, participants demonstrated their knowledge and technical skills in computer programming, the engineering design process and public speaking while designing and completing a robot that they control to move a ball across a designated field.
The Luna team of Constantino and Cabida won the bronze medal for third place in this category.
For their breakthrough outstanding efforts, Levi Delos Reyes in Skills USA Architectural Drafting and Vierra in Skills USA Carpentry will represent Lahainaluna at the 2012 Skills USA National Leadership and Skill Conference competition in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 23-27, accompanied by Jeremy Delos Reyes.
Delos Reyes said, “Our IET (Industrial Engineering and Technology) program all came home with medals, with several first-time accomplishments – first time winning in carpentry, first time winning in drafting, and first time competing and placing in robotics. The Lahaina community and the students’ families should all be proud of their efforts and continue to support them with financial help to get to the Skills USA National competition in June.
“My cost for going to the event will be subsidized, but the kids are on their own to raise approximately $3,500 for travel and lodging each to go. Hopefully, they will get the help they need to make the trip to the competition. Please call Ivy Huerter at 662-4000 for information on making a donation to a very worthy effort.”