tate Competition and Leadership Conference held at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ, according to co-advisors John Schneider and Louis Bramante.Vineland High Schools students have brought home gold, silver and bronze medals in the recent SkillsUSA State Competition and Leadership Conference held at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ, according to co-advisors John Schneider and Louis Bramante.
The three man team of SkillsUSA chapter president Jonathan Cruz, David Worden, and Jonathan Clifford, under the direction of Automotive Technology Instructor Louis Bramante, Jr. were awarded gold medals for their entry in the “Tech Prep Showcase” competition, subcategory of “Automotive Transportation and Logistics”. Their project highlights the advancements of automotive safety and vehicle maintenance component technology over the past decade.
These three young men, and Bramante, will attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference in Kansas City, June 23-28 where their project will be competing against those created by some of the most talented students in the nation.
Other students in Bramante’s Automotive Program who earned recognition included David Johnson, a silver medal winner for his entry in the "Chapter Display" competition. Johnson’s fellow club members, David Worden and Jonathan Clifford, who worked on the project with Johnson - also were awarded silver medals for their participation in the project.
The three man team of Jesse Serra, Kyle Osiecki, and William Ardito, under the direction of Schneider, a computer-aided design instructor at the school, were awarded silver medals for their entry in the Tech Prep Showcase competition, subcategory of “Architecture and Construction”. Their project proposed an all “green” design for the construction of a new high school where all the heating and air conditioning would be geothermal, the lighting would be hybrid solar-fiber optic and the majority of the electricity would be provided by fields of solar panels.
Additional students of Schneider who participated were the team of SkillsUSA chapter vice-president Hector Perez and Brett Watson in the category of “TV–Video Production” competition, Joshua Gonzalez in the “Technical Drafting” competition and Xin Liu in the “Architectural Drafting” competition.
Club President, Jonathan Cruz's second competition entry for "Ornamental Iron and Design" was awarded the bronze medal. Cruz created a hand-crafted scale version of the Unisphere located at Flushing Meadows in New York City.
Bramante praised the “hard work” of other members of this year’s chapter. “They did not medal, but put forth a great deal of effort on their projects and should be commended,” he said. The group included: Christy Vernacchio - Promotional Bulletin Board; Eddy Cruz - Automotive Service Technician; Brett Watson and Hector Perez - TV Video Production; Joshua Gonzalez - Technical Drafting and Xin Liu - Architectural Drafting.
“I am really thrilled by the hard work and the exciting accomplishments of these students,” said Bramante. “Working with these students, and sharing in their successes, allows all of us at Vineland High School to see what our students can achieve. To all of them, I say ‘job well done.’ ”
The group will soon be announcing a schedule of fundraising to pay for the trip to Kansas City, said Bramante.
“This is an awesome accomplishment for the students, their advisors, for our School of Applied Technology, for Vineland High School, and for the city of Vineland,” said Dorothy Burke, VHS South Associate Principal. “I never doubted that these students would be successful. I witnessed their work in many of the early stages and it was a joy to me to see the final product with many of the projects.”
Burke said that Bramante and Schneider have “established a foundation of pride in our students and for that I am thankful.”