ACC Students Win Big at SkillsUSA

Students at the Arlington Career Center won multiple medals at the 60th Annual SkillsUSA Virginia Championship held at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia from April 4-6. SkillsUSA focuses on leadership skills for high school students, offering a variety of contests judged by industry standards.

Caroline Schwebach (12th grade), Tony Madigan (11th grade), Ethan Eccker (10th grade), and Kiara Epps (12th grade) won first-place gold medals in the Video News Production contest. They had two hours to write a three-minute news piece and twenty minutes to record a final take. These students qualify for the National SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta from June 23-27.

Lauren Sproles (11th grade) and Dylan Heinrich (11th grade) won first-place gold medals in the Video Production Live contest. They had four hours to plan, record, and edit a three-minute piece on the prompt “Ignite your Potential.”  This team also qualifies for the National SkillsUSA Championships.

Caroline Schwebach, Dylan Heinrich, and Scarlett Stevens (11th grade) won first-place gold medals in the Video Production-Special Effects contest with their Nike commercial, “Confidence Fuels Winners.”

Kiara Epps and Alejandro Ortega (12th grade) won first-place gold medals in the Video Production-Cuts Only contest with their PSA on voting, “Election Day in Partyville,” using miniature Lego figures.

Dylan Heinrich also won first-place gold in the Radio Communications contest with his humorous piece on Ben & Jerry’s.

Dania Fadhil (12th grade) and Scarlett Stevens won the inaugural Digital Cinema Highlight contest, creating a music video highlighting SkillsUSA. Their winning video was played for hundreds of SkillsUSA participants during the awards ceremony at the end of the competition.

Andy Cristobal (10th grade) won the second-place silver medal in the Barbering contest. This is the second year in a row that the Barbering program has earned a medal in this Virginia SkillsUSA contest.

ACC won the SkillsUSA Cup for the third year in a row. The TV Production program is led by Tom O’Day, and the Cosmetology/Barbering programs are run by Rosenia Peake and Desiree Alexander.