CRESTON — Southwestern Community College (SWCC) student Daniel Leonard of Mount Ayr placed first in the nation for electrical construction wiring at the 2016 SkillsUSA Championships held June 20-24, 2016, in Louisville, KY.
The SkillsUSA Championships showcase the best career and technical education students in the nation. Leonard qualified for the national competition by placing first in the electrical construction wiring competition at the Iowa SkillsUSA 2016 competition in Ankeny on April 29, 2016.
Leonard, a May 2009 graduate of Mount Ayr High School, earned his Associate of Arts degree from SWCC in December 2011. He entered the college’s electrical technology program in the fall of 2014. He was granted a diploma in electrical technology in June 2015 and received the Associate of Applied Science degree in electrical technology in June 2016. He maintained a GPA of 3.5 or higher throughout his time in the electrical technology program, qualifying him for the President’s List each semester.
Shelby Woods, SWCC auto collision repair/refinish student, also qualified to compete at the national SkillsUSA competition. Woods, of Madison, MO, finished 13th in the automotive refinishing technology category during SkillsUSA national competition. She earned her Associate of Applied Science degree in auto collision repair/refinish from SWCC in May 2016 and her diploma in auto collision repair/refinish in June 2015.
During the SkillsUSA Championships, more than 6,000 contestants competed in 100 events. According to its Web site, SkillsUSA is a multi-million-dollar event that occupies a space equivalent to 16 football fields. The purpose of the championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers’ needs.
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