ACC Students Win Virginia SkillsUSA Awards

Students enrolled in the Arlington Career Center Television Production program were awarded SkillsUSA Virginia Championship medals at the 61st Annual State Leadership Conference and Skills Championships. The contests were held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach from March 9-11. The Career Center took the podium in seven of the eight media competitions they entered, with six of those being first place.

Leading the way for the Career Center were Arlington Tech student Ula Olson (11th grade), Career Center students Rue Dove (11th grade), Rebekah Knapp (11th grade), and Jackie Lutz (12th grade) who won first-place gold medals in the Video News Production Live contest. The team had two hours to write a three-minute news piece and then another twenty minutes in the studio to record a final take in one attempt. These four students qualify for the National SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta from June 1st-5th. They will be a part of the Virginia team that is competing against the rest of the country. Gold Medal Video News Production Live

Arlington Tech student Lauren Sproles (12th grade) once again won a first-place gold medal in the Video Production Live contest with Career Center student Ethan Eccker (11th grade). This is the third year in a row that Lauren has won this contest, which is a state record. They had five hours to plan, record, and edit a one-minute piece on the prompt, “Champions In SkillsUSA”. This team also qualifies for the upcoming National SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta. Gold Medal Video Production Live

Arlington Tech students Ula Olson and Tony Madigan (12th grade), and Career Center student Brandon King (11th grade), won first-place gold medals in the Television-Pre-Produced-Cuts Only contest with their eye-catching Gatorade advertisement ‘Pass the Fuel.’ Gold Medal Cuts Only Pre-Produced

Ethan Eccker and Lauren Sproles also won first-place gold medals in the Pre Produced-Special Effects contest with their promotional video called ‘CTE: Fast Track to Your Future’. Gold Medal SFX Pre-produced

Incredibly, TV Production students swept the entire Radio Communications Pre-Produced competition. Brandon King won the first-place gold medal with his humorous commercial for Gillette training razors. Gold Medal Radio Communications Pre-Produced

Career Center students Maren Akst (11th grade) and Alexandra Galifianakis-Mooney (11th grade) won the Digital Cinema Highlight Reel contest, where the students were given 24 hours to make a music video highlighting different aspects of SkillsUSA to a song of their choice. Their winning video was played for hundreds of SkillsUSA participants during the awards ceremony at the end of the competition.

Other Career Center students demonstrated professionalism and skill while competing in the Carpentry and Cabinetmaking contests under teacher Kyle Godfrey, and in the Advertising Design competition under teacher John Woodhead.

SkillsUSA is a national organization that focuses on leadership skills for high school students. Students are given the opportunity to compete in contests against their peers at the local, state, and national levels. All contests are run by and judged by industry, using industry standards for employment. To learn more about SkillsUSA, watch this STUDENT PROMO made by some of our award-winning Television Production students.

Arlington Career Center’s Television Production program, led by Tom O’Day, continues to set a high standard of excellence. Each year, students earn top honors at the state level and the opportunity to represent Virginia on the national stage.

This year, two championship teams have qualified for the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta this June—an outstanding achievement that reflects months of dedication, creativity, and technical skill.

“SkillsUSA has given me incredible opportunities to show off what I do best and highlight my skill set,” says four-time gold medalist Lauren Sproles. Her teammate, Ethan Eccker, added, “It’s what I look forward to most at the beginning of each school year.” Ula Olson, a member of the Video News Production team, shared, “I’ve been working toward this moment since I joined TV Production, and it means so much to have the chance to compete at nationals.”

With limited program funding available for travel this year, the Arlington Career Center is seeking community support to help ensure these students can represent Virginia at the national level. Contributions directly support transportation, lodging, and competition expenses.

Community members who would like to support these students can:

• Make checks payable to the Arlington Career Center and include “SkillsUSA TV Production National Trip” in the memo line
• Donate at: School Cash Online
• Contact Tom O’Day at [email protected] for additional ways to contribute

Every contribution helps expand opportunities for students to apply their skills in a real-world, national setting and represent their community with pride. O’Day adds, “The Arlington Tech Advisory Committee helped cover some of the initial SkillsUSA fees earlier this year. Their support allowed every TV student to compete at the local level, and I truly appreciate their commitment to our community.”

Below is the List of all the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal Winners

*Signifies Arlington Tech student.

-Video News Production Live
Rue Dove (11th grade), Rebekah Knapp (11th grade), *Ula Olson (11th grade), and Jackie Lutz (12th grade)
(This team advances to the SkillsUSA National Championships in Atlanta from June 1-5th)  Gold Medal Video News Production Live

-Video Production Live
Ethan Eccker (12th grade), *Lauren Sproles (10th grade)
(This team advances to the SkillsUSA National Championships in Atlanta from June 1-5)
Gold Medal Video Production Live

-TV Production-Pre Produced-Cuts Only
*Ula Olson (11th grade), Brandon King (11th grade), *Tony Madigan (12th grade)   Gold Medal Cuts Only Pre-produced

-TV Production-Pre Produced-Special Effects
Ethan Eccker (11th grade), *Lauren Sproles (12th grade)
Gold Medal SFX Pre-produced – “CTE: Fast Track to Your Future”

-Radio Communications Pre-Produced

Brandon King (11th grade) Gold Medal Radio-Pre Produced – “Gillette Training Razor”

-Digital Cinema Highlights                                                                                 Maren Akst (11th grade), Alexandra Galifianakis-Mooney (11th grade) Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions this video cannot be shared.

Second Place Silver Medal Winners

-TV Production Pre-Produced Cuts-Only
*Lauren Sproles (12th grade), Ethan Eccker (11th grade) Silver Medal Cuts Only – “Compulsion”

-TV Production Pre-Produced Special Effects
Brandon King (11th grade), *Ula Olson (11th grade), *Tony Madigan (12th grade) Gold Medal SFX Pre-produced – “Champions Are Everywhere”

Third Place Bronze Medal Winners

-Video News Production Live
*James Karlton (10th grade), *Jackson Shartzer (10th grade), Na’ama Korman (9th grade), *Peter Madigan (9th grade)                                         Bronze Medal Video News Production Live

-Radio Communications Pre-Produced
*Lauren Sproles (12th grade)- Bronze Medal Radio-Pre Produced – “United Airlines”

Other Competitors

-Video Production Live, 4th Place- *Dylan Montminy (9th grade), *Leyla Hirschfield (9th grade)Fourth Place Video Production Live

-Cabinetmaking, 5th Place- *Tomio Mataka (11th grade)

-Cabinetmaking, 6th Place- Scott Robinson (12th grade)

-Advertising Design, 8th Place- *Clara Zelle (10th grade)

-Digital Cinema-Film, 8th Place- Maren Akst (11th grade), Alexandra Galifianakis-Mooney (11th grade)- 8th Place Digital Cinema-Short Film

-Carpentry, 9th Place- *Maxwell Schultz (11th grade)

-Carpentry, 12th Place- *Pano Doxakis (11th grade)