Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Ten Sleep's Skills USA team, (l-r) Kiyoshi Smith, Eli Mitchell, Walker Cooper, Payton Norman and Jacob Fettig dressed up to attend the contest's award ceremony.
Ten Sleep graduating senior Eli Mitchell won first place in architectural drafting at the Wyoming SkillsUSA competition in April.
Mitchell was a part of a five-member team that competed for Ten Sleep under the direction of career technical education teacher Jason Thoren. The team competed in Casper April 24- 26 at the Wyoming SkillsUSA Competition, an event with more than 700 competitors and over 50 categories held to test the abilities of vocational students from across the state. The competition that Mitchell won included two parts: a written knowledge test assessing general knowledge of architecture and drafting, and a skill performance that assesses the contestant's ability to solve a problem using either board drafting or computer assisted drafting. For his first-place finish, Mitchell earned a $2,000 scholarship to Casper College.
Thoren said, "Eli used Revit to design and model his house renovation creating floor plans, exterior elevations, wall sections, and then making drawing sheets. Eli did a great job modeling and constructing his home, and then was able to create drawing sheets of his model."
The team from Ten Sleep was Eli Mitchell, Walker Cooper, Jacob Fettig, Kiyoshi Smith and Payton Norman.
Cooper competed in the cabinetmaking category of the competition, and took fourth place in the state. The competition consists of two parts: a knowledge performance written test and a skill performance consisting of workstations that required the building of a small cabinet from the materials and drawings supplied. Using both plywood and hardwood, Cooper was given a set of plans, and then had to construct a cabinet ready for finish to be applied.
Thoren said, "This competition can get tricky, as it is a one-day contest that tracks time spent using machines, glue-up time, and then time at the end to clean up any imperfections."
Fettig, Smith and Norman all competed in welding. The welding competition involved a written exam and skill performance. The written knowledge exam aimed to assess welding and associated topics including safety, math for welders and print reading. It also included a brief oral interview consisting of several questions before a group of technical committee members. The skill performance assessment could include a variety of welds and materials. All three students had to read welding blueprints to identify the type, process, and position of the weld required.
In part of the novice contest, Norman was able to work with and learn from someone who placed fourth at Worldskills (a worldwide welding competition).
Smith placed sixth overall in the intermediate welding category while Fettig was also in the top 15. Both have expressed interest in continuing to compete next year in the advanced welding competition.
