Five Tamaqua Area students competed in the 57th Annual SkillsUSA Pennsylvania State Leadership and Skill Conference this month, with three placing and one advancing to the national competition.

Ava Vengen placed first in the Esthetics Model competition and will advance to the National SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta in June, while Riley Kabana and Madison Schock took second place in Career Pathways (Human).

Other Schuylkill Technology Center students from Tamaqua Area who competed in the state event were: Mason McMillan, Motorcycle Science; and Logan Leatherman, Electronics Technology.

Tamaqua Area Superintendent Ray Kinder shared the “good news” with board members Tuesday night, and board President Larry Wittig said he’d like to invite the students to the next board meeting to recognize their achievements.

The state conference was held April 3 and 4 at the Hershey Lodge, and saw students competing against their peers from career and technical centers throughout the state.

Seven students from the Schuylkill Technology Center competed at states, including Gavin Blazer of Tri-Valley, Power Equipment Technology, and Jaylynn Endicott of Shenandoah Valley, who placed first in Esthetics and advances to the national competition.

SkillsUSA is a partnership organization between students, teachers and industry partners working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.

Its mission is to help school improve the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics.