After a competitive four-day state tournament in Corpus Christi last weekend, three Katy ISD students won first place and earned a spot in the 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. These students have worked since the start of the school year to perfect their skills and are excited to represent Katy ISD at the national level.
| First Place Winners in SkillsUSA State Conference | |
| Mechatronics | Emiliano Grajales-Mora (Junior at Tompkins High School)
Daniel Fernandez (Junior at Tompkins High School) |
| Culinary Arts | Brayden Henry (Junior at Tompkins High School) |
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- Emiliano Grajales-Mora and Daniel Fernandez (Junior at Tompkins High School)
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- Brayden Henry (Junior at Tompkins High School)
“The Miller Career & Technology Center (MCTC) SkillsUSA program has grown tremendously over the past three years, expanding to include Criminal Justice, Information Technology, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and Manufacturing Engineering chapters. Students enroll in MCTC courses to gain real-world experiences and career-focused opportunities,” said Dallas Bergstrom, MCTC Manufacturing Engineering Instructor. “In addition to competing, members of our SkillsUSA program gain valuable networking and leadership skills with like-minded peers across the state and/or nation,” added Bergstrom.
A total of 53 Katy ISD students recently advanced to state to compete against thousands of participants in over 100 occupational and leadership skill areas. The following students were among the Top 5 spots, some of which also earned scholarships in their respective categories.
| SkillsUSA State Conference | |
| Mechatronics – Second Place | Kamalika Bose (Senior at Tompkins High School) |
| Robotics and Automation – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winner | Aden Watson (Senior at Katy High School)
Philip Homburger (Junior at Taylor High) |
| Engineering Technology Design – Third Place | Seth Windham (Senior at Tompkins High) Levend Karayaka (Senior at Taylor High)Andrew Simmons (Senior at Tompkins High) |
| Computerized Numerical Control Milling – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winner
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Daniel Fernandez (Junior at Tompkins High)
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| Computerized Numerical Control Turning – Third Place and $1,500 Scholarship Winner | Nicolas Ahmed (Senior at Mayde Creek High) |
| Applied Engineering – Fourth Place | Alan Mendoza-Estrada (Junior at Seven Lakes High)
Dayanna Perez (Junior at Mayde Creek High Logan King (Junior at Katy High) Mitchell Gorodetsky (Junior at Taylor High) |
| Commerciall Baking – Fifth Place | Lauren Witte (Senior at Cinco Ranch High) |
SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills, along with technical skills grounded in academics. The goal of SkillsUSA is to empower students to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of industry positions go unfilled.
The 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skill Conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia on June 20-24.