The Lexington SkillsUSA Chapter attended the Nebraska SkillsUSA Leadership Conference April 13-15^th at the Nebraska State Fair Grounds in Grand Island. Members competed in the Quiz Bowl, Extemporaneous Speaking, Job Demonstration A, Automotive Service Technology, Welding, Welding Fabrication, and Welding Sculpture. As of April 24, we have only the partial results from the contest.

            Those participating in the Quiz Bowl were Tzintly Angulo, Katherine Canales, Irvin Alvidrez-Avalos, Hunter Lorenz, and Carlos Pano Jr. These students went through several rounds of competition answering questions about SkillsUSA and current events. We believe they placed 8^th or 9^th as a team.

            Carlos Pano Jr. represented our chapter in the Extemporaneous Speaking contest. The topic for the extemporaneous speech was “Our Time is Now and what does that mean”.

            Competing in the Automotive Service Technology contest were Matthew Stewart, Carlos Pano Jr., and Tzintly Angulo. Their contest involved a written comprehensive test, identifying automotive parts, troubleshooting an automotive problem, and utilizing diagnostic tools.

            Irvin Alvidrez-Avalos competed in the Job Demonstration A. His demonstration was on how to prepare welding coupons for weld testing using a bevel machine. Irvin made a special table to perform his demonstration.

           The Welding Fabrication team was Jose Sanchez-Guevara, Isaac Torralba-Oliver, and Rosa Gonzalez. They had to build a smoker from a 14-inch tube, components that were precut, and materials they had to cut. They then had to weld all of the components together and make a finished product. They placed 3^rd at the contest and received a bronze award, a trophy, and individual medals.

           Katherine Canales competed in the Welding Sculpture contest. Her sculpture was of a human heart. This contest involves designing the sculpture prior to the contest. She had to document that her sculpture was of her own design, the cost of materials, and photos of the progress of the project. Then she had an interview about her sculpture.