MTI Does It Again: Wins Most SkillsUSA Medals
For the 6th straight year MTI has won most medals in nation

For the sixth straight year, Manatee Technical Institute students won more medals than any other school in the nation at the 45th Annual SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City. The 62 medals MTI won represents 61 percent of all the medals won by the state of Florida.

MTI brought home 32 gold, 21 silver and 9 bronze medals. The community may go to http://www.skillsusa.org/compete/results.shtml to see a complete list of winners.

For the first time ever, family and friends may view the June 26 awards ceremony by going to http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1716200.

The SkillsUSA Championships are a showcase for the best career and technical education students in the nation. Students work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like building maintenance, entrepreneurship, fire fighting, and web design. According to students who compete, the SkillsUSA Championships are like the Olympics for career and technical education.

The SkillsUSA Championships began in 1967 and has grown to over 5,000 students competing in 93 different skill, technical and leadership fields. Nearly 1,500 judges and contest organizers from labor and management make the national contests possible. Contest competencies are set by industry.

SkillsUSA is partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. The philosophy 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.

The Championships were held June 22 through 26. The theme for this year´s contests was “Champions at Work, Leadership in Transition.”