By Harlie Bates-Hudgin

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On Feb. 19 and 20 at the Hawaii Convention Center, 17 MHS students placed in this year’s Hawaii SkillsUSA State Conference. Seniors Glenn Galvizo Jr., Clayton Dailey and Leyna Tamaye, Junior Mick Marchan and Sophomores Vanessa Roybal, Joy Sanchez and Rachel Yasunaga will be moving on to the national competition.

“It takes a lot of work to win first place,” said

SkillsUSA Graphic Design adviser Todd Yoshizawa, “It’s not something that’s going to come by easy.”

For several students like Tamaye, this year’s competition was more successful than past conferences. “I was lucky to place second last year, my first time competing,” said Tamaye, “I worked hard to improve this year and am proud to say I was able to place first (in the Prepared Speech category).”

However, there are some aspects of the competition that don’t change. “I was a little nervous for (the presentation),” said MHS SkillsUSA President Dailey, “But otherwise I was feeling good about the event because we were prepared and this (was) our third year competing in competition.” Tamaye added, “I knew that the competition for (Prepared) Speech was pretty tough, and the scariest part was that the toughest competitors were in middle school.”

One of the categories at the competition was Mobile Robotics, in which Dailey and Galvizo won first place. “This year’s challenge involved moving 5-inch balls and 16-inch balls into scoring zones,” said Dailey, “At the competition we had two rounds to score as many points as possible.” Other categories students competed in were Internetworking, Job Skills Demonstration and the Promotional Bulletin Board. Marchan’s competition in Internetworking involved four tests consisting of making wires, configuring a network, and participating in Professional Automotive Career Training.

Preparation for this year’s competition was hectic, especially for those who participated in other activities. “FIRST Robotics definitely does conflict with Skills,” said Yasunaga, who won first place in the Job Skills Demonstration category, “Because once our build season ends, that’s when Skills starts, so I actually miss the last day of build season.”

For students like Sanchez and Yasunaga, the hardwork paid off. “It’s nice knowing that I’m doing something other than sitting around,” said Sanchez. Yasunaga added, “I didn’t go in there wanting to place or having that goal, I just went there to perform.”

Although not all students placed at the conference, Seniors Austin Dailey and Justin Hara, Junior Haylie Shinsato and Sophomores Courtney Gima and Allayna Quiocho received the Statesmen Award, which recognizes students for their community service, leadership skills and knowledge of the political process. “Statesmen is like the student of students,” said Yoshizawa, “It’s very distinguished.” In addition, Junior Dylan Kawada received a scholarship. Kawada, who placed second in the Automotive Service Technology category, received a $7,000 scholarship to the Universal Technical Institute.

Finalists will be moving on to the 50th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference from June 23 to 27 in Kansas City, Mo.