Students from the St. Clair County Technical Education Center (TEC) earned an impressive 13 medals at the 2026 SkillsUSA Michigan State Leadership and Skills Conference, held April 17–19 in Grand Rapids.
More than 60 TEC students participated in the state-level competition, with 13 earning medals across various contests. Students Rori Cowhy, Michael Carrier, and Blake Duvall will have the opportunity to advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 1 to 5.
SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving more than 310,000 high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. The annual competition recognizes the nation's best career and technical education (CTE) students and evaluates their mastery of real-world, industry-aligned challenges.
“We are incredibly proud of our students for the commitment and perseverance they’ve shown,” said Lesley Murphy, CTE Director/TEC Principal at St. Clair County RESA. “Their achievements are the result of countless hours of dedication, along with the guidance and encouragement of our TEC instructors and instructional technicians.”
The following students earned medals:
COLLISION REPAIR TECHNOLOGY (Advisors: Mike Parks and Martin George)
Contest: Collision Auto Refinishing
Bronze: Christian Romano, St. Clair High School
Contest: Collision Repair Technology
Bronze: Ethan Staley, Marysville High School
COSMETOLOGY (Advisors: Alecia Klein and Kara Randall)
Contest: Mannequin (State Contest)
Gold: Rose Horn, St. Clair High School
METAL MACHINING (Advisor: Duane Emig and Marv Koob)
Contest: CNC 5-Axis Milling
Gold: Michael Carrier, Marysville High School
Contest: CNC 2-Axis Turning
Gold: Blake Duvall, Yale High School
Contest: Precision Machining Job Specific Mill
Bronze: Andrew Ferrara, Algonac High School
WELDING (Advisor: Becca Robertson and Jim Lay)
Contest: Welding Sculpture
Gold: Rori Cowhy, Yale High School
Silver: Jessica Kean, Port Huron High School
Contest: Additive Manufacturing (team event)
Silver: Luke Rhein, St. Clair High School, and Zaira Sullivan, St. Clair High School
Contest: Welding Fabrication (team event)
Silver: Jackson Dinsdale, Marysville High School; Thomas Georgia, Port Huron Northern High School; and Graham Allam, St. Clair High School
Contest: Professional Development Test
Top Scores Recognition: Zaira Sullivan, St. Clair High School
SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving more than 310,000 high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. The SkillsUSA competition is an annual event designed to gauge students’ mastery of various career-oriented skills and showcase the nation's best career and technical education students.