TSTC students in West Texas qualify for national SkillsUSA competition
Apr. 15—ABILENE — Four Texas State Technical College students representing the West Texas campuses recently qualified for the upcoming 2025 SkillsUSA National Postsecondary Leadership and Skills Conference.
One two-member team and two individuals won gold medals in their respective events at the SkillsUSA Texas Postsecondary Leadership and Skills Conference held in Corpus Christi earlier this month.
Kelly Coontz and Elizabeth Hammons qualified in the Emergency Medical Technician event, Shawn Couet won Electronics Technology and Samantha Trevino won Medical Assisting. The four students will compete in the national SkillsUSA event June 23-27 in Atlanta, Georgia.
For the second consecutive year, a TSTC Emergency Medical Services team from Abilene captured the Emergency Medical Technician gold medal. Coontz, of Pearland, and Hammons, of Richland, Mississippi, were excited about the competition and the win. Both students are currently enrolled in Emergency Medical Services — EMT.
"It was a very friendly competition, mostly focused on being the best you can be," Koontz said in a news release. "It is good to know the quality of students TSTC, especially TSTC in Abilene, is putting out at a national level."
"Winning made us feel that going through the classes and the skills we have been taught was rewarding," Hammons said. "Winning for the second straight year makes us proud."
Couet, a current Electromechanical Technology student from Kerrville, said winning the state gold medal will help him during the national event.
"This will give me a baseline on what to study for nationals," he said. "I now know what my strengths and weaknesses are and can work on them."
Trevino, a Vocational Nursing student from Abilene, said she was "shocked" to learn that she won a gold medal.
"I went into the competition with the skills I have learned from school and on the job, and won," she said. "I am excited to be going to nationals. This is a humbling experience and something I was not expecting."
Also during the state event, three other West Texas students earned medals. The team of Rachelle Arthur and Gerardo Carrillo, both current Electromechanical Technology students, earned silver in Mechatronics, while Vocational Nursing student Kelly Perry received the bronze medal in Nurse Assisting.
SkillsUSA is a professional organization focused on employability, leadership and technical skills that help college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 specific contests at the state and national events in which students can compete, from 3D Visualization and Animation to Welding Sculpture.
Registration for TSTC's summer and fall semesters is underway. For more information, go to tstc.edu.
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