9 May, 2017
Keefe Regional Technical School students used their career and technical skills to bring home gold, silver and bronze medals at the State SkillsUSA Conference, held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough, MA and Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton, MA from April 27-29, 2017.
A total of 2,300 students from 51 career and technical schools in Massachusetts participated in skills and leadership competitions in their career and technical areas. Keefe Tech students competed in skill areas such as Robotics, Cosmetology, First Aid, and Web Design.
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing high school and college students for careers in technical, trade, and skilled service occupations through local, state, and national programs. It provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship, and character development. Additionally, it builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitudes, and communication skills, emphasizing total quality at work, high ethical standards, superior work skills, lifelong education, and pride in dignity of work.
Keefe Tech’s state level gold medal winners are Cameron Mulready of Framingham and James Deneault of Framingham for Humanoid Robotics and Ashley Wedge of Natick for Cosmetology (Over 500 Hours). These students will go on to represent Keefe Tech and Massachusetts in their career and technical areas at the 53rd Annual National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky from June 19-24, 2017. More than 6,000 SkillsUSA Champions from across the United States will compete in 100 different skill contests during the week-long event.
Keefe Tech’s state level silver medalists are Gabriella Rivas of Holliston for First Aid/CPR and Spencer Vernes of Ashland for Sheet Metal. Keefe Tech’s state level bronze medalists are Dylan Beckerman of Holliston for Information Technology, Samantha Phipps of Ashland and Andrew Hancock of Holliston for Web Design, Melissa Calvo Vides of Framingham and Viviana Cruz of Framingham for Nail Care and Hudson Bickford of Holliston for Extemporaneous Speaking.
Additionally, Kevin Luna-Torres of Ashland was elected as a SkillsUSA Massachusetts State Officer, and Hudson Bickford of Holliston was selected as a National SkillsUSA National Voting Delegate.
“It is outstanding that our students performed tremendously against some very good competition,” said John Brochu, Director of Career and Technical Education at Keefe Tech. “It is a tribute to our teachers working with energetic, hard-working students who demonstrated their talents with their peers across the state,” he added.
According to Keefe Tech Cameron Mulready of Framingham, his Programming and Web Development Instructor, Mark Hamilton, ensured he was ready to put his skills to the test. "Mr. Hamilton gave us the tools necessary to troubleshoot the problems we encountered. We felt prepared for the competition," he noted.
About Keefe Regional Technical High School
Keefe Regional Technical School is a four-year public high school located in Framingham, MA and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. In addition to 15 career and technical programs, Keefe Tech offers a complete college preparatory and honors academic programs to students from the communities of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton and Natick.
