Calhoun Community College is excited to announce that several of its students won BIG at the 2022 Alabama SkillsUSA State Competition, which was held in Birmingham, AL, and will advance to compete nationally.
“This competition is near and dear to my heart,” commented Dr. Jimmy Hodges, Calhoun Interim President. “As a machinist by trade, it is absolutely amazing to watch so many young people take an interest in technical training, and participate in competitions that expand their minds to the magic they can make with the skills they are learning,” adds Hodges.
24 Calhoun students battled head to head with high school and post-secondary students from across the state in various technical contests. Of those competitions, Calhoun won 7 gold medals, 11 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals. The 7 students who won gold medals will advance to represent Alabama in the National SkillsUSA Competition in June.
“Some may argue that sports competitions are the most exciting competitions, but I would beg to differ,” says Nina Bullock, Calhoun Design Drafting Technology Instructor. “There is nothing more rewarding than watching our students work extremely hard preparing for these types of competitions and bringing back gold, silver, and bronze medals. It is all about applying the knowledge and skills gained from our Calhoun instructors, and we couldn’t be more proud,” said Bullock.
The competition consisted of over 1,500 attendees with 1,071 competitors in over 85 contests. This year, the Alabama SkillsUSA competition awarded 435 gold, silver, and bronze medals. Please find below Calhoun’s award recipients broken down by categories:
Additive Manufacturing
Instructor: Nina Bullock
Gold Team
- Candace Sanchez from Kaiserslautern, Germany
- Bradley Heichelbech from Springhill, TN
Silver Team
- Ryan Frost from Killen, AL
- Shayanne Warren from Moulton, AL
Architectural Drafting
- Gold – Lenwood Cochran from Auburn, AL
- Bronze – Chelsea Duford from Rogersville, AL
Technical Drafting
- Gold – Delroy Tulloch from Decatur, AL
- Silver – Lloyd Birdwell from Athens, AL
Automotive Service Technology
Instructor: Lewis Nall
- Gold – Heath Berry from Hazel Green, AL
- Silver – Austin Fortin from Colorado Springs, CO
CNC Milling Specialist
Instructor Tad Montgomery
- Silver – Carson Walker from Harvest, AL
Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration
Instructor: Tony Pack
- Silver – Evan Mitchell from Elkmont, TN
- Bronze – Jessie Woods from Ardmore, AL
Industrial Motor Control
Instructor: Collis Sims
- Gold – Francisco Gonzalez from Decatur, AL
- Silver – Wesley Irish from Decatur, AL
Robotics & Automation Technology
Instructor: Shaun Atkins
Team Silver
- Christopher Horne Madison, AL
- Josh Suggs Huntsville, AL
Instructor: Matt Jones
Welding
- Silver – Triston Evanko from Madison, AL
Welding Sculpture
- Gold – Kyle Stark from Huntsville, AL
To learn more about Calhoun’s Design Drafting programs, visit www.calhoun.edu/designdrafting.
