Lenape Students Attend Fall Leadership Conference

21 Lenape Students, along with three advisors and one guest attended the 2013-2014 Skills USA Western Pennsylvania Leadership Conference recently.

While attending the conference, Lenape students participated in various Leadership Workshops and other teambuilding activities. Advisors Kirk Atwood, Joe Jasek and Eric Longwell presented a workshop on Parliamentary Procedure, and Lenape Tech received an award for 100% participation in the Skills USA Knowledge Test.

Shannon Stirling, a senior in the Biomedical Technology Shop serves as the Pennsylvania Western Region Vice President and as the Leadership Conference Secretary. At the conference, Stirling was part of the Leadership Team for all general sessions and led a workshop, along with her fellow officers, on the value of student involvement in their organizations and how to lead.

Junior Biomedical Technology student, Kyra Blondeaux, received first place in the Gold Star Competition. The goal of the competition is to examine the theme of Skills USA and to examine how the organization and technical education can help prepare students in the area of professional development. The competition was judged by the state executive director of Skills USA as well as retired advisors from across the region.

Blondeaux addressed the conference after her win stating that, “I had a huge fear of public speaking, but this shows that any one of you can overcome your fears and accomplish your goals.”
Lenape students will participate in Skills competitions in their technical areas over the coming months with the hopes of advancing to the State Skills Competition in the Spring.

SkillsUSA is a United States career and technical student organization serving more than 320,000 high school and college students and professional members enrolled in training programs in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations. The conference was attended by 306 students across Western Pennsylvania.

Lenape Tech students also have a chance to show off their skills in a competition at the Manor Township school later today.