Here’s a tip: If you ever find yourself having to dress formally for a field trip that’s pretty far away, always bring an extra pair of shoes that are way more comfortable than those shiny pair of heels that seem to call your name.
Photo taken by Chris Gehringer in Saint Clare’s Denville Hospital
This year’s high school competition for SkillsUSA was held at Essex County Schools of Technology, whereas the medical competitions were held on the same day at St. Claire’s Hospital. A total of eight students were sent up to Newark on March 7th in order to represent our school in a number of different competitions.
These competitions included my own, being Prepared Speech, Extemporaneous Speaking (Sophia Belizario), Computer Programming (Pierce Kaeferle), Tech Display (Golam Khan and Milton Ruiz), Technical Math (Lawrence Robbins), Customer Service (Mia Wenglicki), and Principles of Engineering Technology (Shane Fernandez). Additionally, two students were sent to Denville to compete at a Medical Terminology Test (Valentina Malo) and a competition on First Aid/CPR (Emma Worthington).
On March 21st, another competition was hosted by Salem County Vocational Technical School. Three high school students were sent to represent Gateway Regional High School through competitions: Electrical Construction Wiring or Basic Residential Wiring (Christopher McHenry), Job Interview (Dexter Belz), and T-Shirt Design (Gavin Thomasson).
When it comes to prepping high school students for approaching adulthood with their head held high, SkillsUSA would be the club that completely exceeds the bare minimum. It offers many different opportunities that allow you to expand your skillset for the future. SkillsUSA students have the decision to choose their competition, generally for either their future career goals or general life skills.
Personally, I chose to expand on a personal skill: public speaking. As a first-year SkillsUSA member, I found I would be most suited to take on the Prepared Speech competition, though I underestimated how difficult it would be. To my dismay, the day of the competition approached a whole lot quicker than I was comfortable with. While I did show up to the competition and try my best, I don’t expect to win any medals for my performance.
The time I spent in anticipation of the competition date was time that I focused on trying my best to win. Admittedly enough, when given advice to speak from my heart and study the meaning behind my words more than the actual order, I did not heed this advice as much as I should have.
Photo taken by Chris Gehringer at Salem County Vocational Technical School.
Even if I may not win this one, I surely learned a lot and will prepare for the next one to come up. Having the courage to actually give a speech in front of strangers is rewarding in itself. I wouldn’t say I’m all that much of a casual talker, but when I do have things to say to strangers, I don’t like to make them meaningless.
Giving this speech taught me how to take care of the words I use and be able to properly enunciate them to their full potential. I learned to write like a speaker rather than a thinker, which is something I’ve had trouble with for a while.
Though I have my own opinion about my performance, the results are not released until April 18th, when the Championships Award Ceremony will be held at Morris Knolls High School. Until then, Gateway’s fabulous competitors will have to be patient as well as proud of their accomplishments.
Speaking of pride, the Middle School SkillsUSA competitions will be hosted by none other than Gateway Regional High School on March 28th, 2026! Go gators and good luck middle school!
