The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Cost of Paradise
Dannika Pila and Arie YamasakiFebruary 7, 2024
Left to right: Trumpets Rylan Akau-Morgan, Peyton Kahiapo and Skylar Hamasu stand in first position during the City of Lights Parade on Dec. 2.
Great Minds Think Alike: Collaborations Between Mililani Schools
Gianna Brown and Arie YamasakiFebruary 7, 2024
Senior Marcus Morifuji faces off against senior Ava Mayfield in a game of chess. The Tabletop Gaming Club
hosted its first chess tournament on Nov. 30, any student was welcome to participate.
Checkmate! Tabletop Gaming Club Hosts Chess Tournament
Marcus Morifuji, Sports Editor • February 6, 2024

SkillsUSA takes two gold medals, three in top 10

By Reagan Paz
[email protected]

SkillsOn June 28, five students from MHS showed their skills in Kansas City, Mo. at the SkillsUSA National Leadership Skills Conference (NLSC). They came home with two gold medals, three places in the top 10 and the experience of a lifetime.

“It was an excellent opportunity to be a part of a national event that has over a hundred technical competitions. The magnitude of SkillsUSA at the national level is energetic, the tempo is high, just an awesome experience,” said one of the SkillsUSA advisers Timothy Pregana.

Seniors Glenn Galvizo and Clayton Dailey won gold medals in the Mobile Robotics category, MHS Alumna and former SkillsUSA State President Gabrielle Reznik placed fifth in the Job Interview category, MHS Alumnus Brayton Acoba placed ninth in Internetworking and Alumnus Stephen Mau placed in fourth in Related Technical Math.

As any national competition, the stakes are high, pushing students to compete to the best of their ability. “It was super competitive, as is any competition. People have been preparing for nationals for months and some even years if they are returning veterans. Everyone is prepared so you either bring your A-game or pack your bags,” said Reznik.

Yet some students were more prepared than others when they arrived at the competition. “We could pretty much do everything that we had to do there before the competition, as in practice, so we basically did all that we needed to here at the school and then when we went to the competition we just had to replicate what we did,” said Dailey, “We knew exactly what we had to do, we had our instructions and our procedures memorized and how we were going to do everything.”

While for others, practice was not an option. “It was hard to prepare because I couldn’t review my answers too much otherwise it would start sounding rehearsed and robotic,” Reznik explained.

Though they all didn’t come home with first place medals, the students and advisers felt they put their best foot forward. “The five students that represented Mililani High performed extremely well,” Pregana said. Reznik added, “I gave it my all, I was able to make the judges laugh, and I answered the questions they asked me to the best of my ability. I honestly did my best.”

Overall, the students enjoyed the trip and the competition. “It’s definitely one of the funnest competitions I’ve ever been to. What made the experience so awesome was that everybody from Hawaii stayed together so all of us were in the same hotel and we went everywhere together so I got to meet a lot of new people,” expressed Dailey. “It is honestly indescribable. You’re surrounded by the future leaders and work force of America and you’re considered one of them. You’re treated like utter royalty but humbled at the same time,” Reznik added.

Although not everyone came home with first place medals, the newest SkillsUSA team looks forward to another successful year.

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