Queensbury students are SkillsUSA Champions

WSWHE BOCES CTE and ECCA students participated in the SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Championships from April 26-28 at the state Fairgrounds in Syracuse. 

With thousands of students in attendance, WSWHE BOCES students returned with Champion titles in their respective fields — several as first place winners.Four teens holding sign

Queensbury senior Ava Stewart — along with Warrensburg students Elizabeth McNutt and Francesca Lang and Fort Ann student Angel Aratare — won first place in the Entrepreneurship category. All four students are from the ECCA Business and Entrepreneurship program on the SUNY Adirondack Queensbury campus. 

The Entrepreneurship competition requires a team of four that tests students’ knowledge in starting their own businesses by developing business plans that identify needed products or services in a local market. 

Teams give oral presentations based upon their written plans, and the team must successfully answer questions by a team of judges in response to typical problems encountered by entrepreneurs during their first year of business.

Three teens stand on podiumFirst place students are eligible to represent WSWHE BOCES at the 2023 National Leadership and Skills Conference which will be held June 19-23 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Queensbury senior Lance Ledbetter won second place in the Customer Service competition. And senior Landon Vrooman won second place in the Culinary Arts competition.

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization devoted to rewarding students for excellence, for involving industry in directly evaluating student performance, and for keeping career training relevant to employers’ needs.