By Janelle Fisher
Intern
GREEN BAY – Two Preble High School seniors are preparing to head to the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta next week – a trip years in the making.
A coveted invitation extended only to qualifying first-place winners, Evan Goral and Andrew Kuznetsov earned their spots at nationals by finishing at the top of their competitions at the SkillsUSA Wisconsin State Conference in April.
A widely-unknown organization, Preble High School SkillsUSA Advisor Wes Brendt said SkillsUSA helps prepare students for the workforce by giving them opportunities to build personal, workplace and technical skills and provides students a competitive setting to showcase skills they’ve learned in the classroom.
“The students come away better prepared for being in the work community by building resumes, doing mock interviews and competing in skilled trades activities against their peers in events that they excel in,” Brendt said. “It gives them the opportunity to reflect on how they did in competitions, and how they can improve, which in turn provides them continuous learning opportunities. It also gives students who might not want to compete in athletics the opportunity to showcase skills that they have harbored and trained for in the classroom, home and at work in a competitive setting.”
Goral said since joining SkillsUSA as a freshman, he has had many opportunities to compete and showcase what he’s learned.
“I was fortunate to be able to participate in different competitions from Team Engineering to Welding Sculpture, where I won at state previously and various other welding methods and finally Sheet Metal Fabrication, which I won the state title in this year,” Goral said.
Kuznetsov said he joined SkillsUSA as a sophomore after he realized the benefits the club could offer him for his future career.
“I joined because participation in this great organization was one of the best ways of preparing for my prospective career in architecture,” he said.
Evan Goral
Goral competed in the Sheet Metal Fabrication category at state, and will do so at nationals as well.
He said for this competition, students complete a project from blueprint to finished product.
“Participants were given a blueprint to read, make notes on and then fabricate HVAC fittings and ductwork,” Goral said.
Preparation for this type of competition, Goral said for him, started at a young age.
“I had done some sheet metal fabrication in school, but had been building cardboard models and maze puzzles since I was young,” he said. “I would draw out my plan, cut the pieces and glue them together to make the item I envisioned. So it was building on those skills I already had used with other materials.”
Goral said he now looks to nationals – which kicks preparation up a level.
“For nationals, I have been working with my uncle who had a career and local business in the metal fabrication industry here in Green Bay,” he said. “We work on the start-to-finish products, tips, tricks and other processes that will give me the edge at nationals.”
Brendt said Goral’s dedication to being the best he can be is admirable, and something his classmates recognize, too.
“Evan has been preparing for nationals since we came back so that he is ready for whatever is being thrown at him,” Brendt said. “He is a tireless worker and his classmates look up to him as a leader and they see what he has done, and they want to follow in his footsteps.”
Although Goral’s future plans may not specifically involve sheet metal fabrication, he said many of the components will still be useful to him.
“I will be attending Michigan Tech for civil engineering, focusing on geospatial engineering which uses many of the same components of blueprint reading, math and spatial relationships,” he said. “I am currently in a surveying internship at Ayres and Associates until I leave for school. It’s always good to have many different skill sets.”
Andrew Kuznetsov
Kuznetsov earned a gold medal in Architectural Drafting at state, earning himself a spot at nationals.
He said the Architectural Drafting competition requires a combination of skills as students turn the design prompt into a completed design.
“After being given a design prompt, I combine two skills: home design and computer drafting,” he said. “The end result is a fully-designed digital structure, accompanied by blueprints.”
To prepare for state, Kuznetsov said he focused on practicing the skills he would use in his competition.
“I prepared for my competition by practicing the skill of designing structures (sketchbook art, model-making, etc.),” he said. “I also spent extensive amounts of time digitally drafting multiple structures on Revit.”
Kuznetsov said competing in Architectural Drafting is helping prepare him for his future career.
“I plan to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to study architecture, and a career in architecture will hopefully follow that,” he said. “So yes, this competition did a good job of preparing me for my future plans.”
Brendt said Kuznetsov has known what he’s wanted to do and been motivated to get there from the beginning.
“Andrew has been in the youth apprenticeship program with Sommerville Inc., working with architects on a daily basis,” Brendt said. “When I met Andrew as a freshman, he knew what he wanted to do from day one.”
State and nationals
Brendt said part of what made SkillsUSA so special this year was the return to in-person events and opportunities for interactions with other students and other competitions.
“Seeing the students bond and cheer each other on in the different skill areas (was my favorite memory from this year),” he said. “It also opened up their minds to see what other activities they could compete in in the future years to come.”
Both Goral and Kuznetsov shared similar thoughts, noting their fellow club members and the people in their competitions were a big part of the experience.
“I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my teammates in Madison for the state conference,” Kuznetsov said. “They are some of the most lively and talented individuals that I have ever met.”
That connection with other students is something both students are looking forward to at nationals as well, along with some sightseeing.
“Andrew and I took our eighth grade trip to Washington D.C. and New York City together, so this will be another adventure,” Goral said. “I’m looking forward to meeting other competitors, learning some new methods, eating some good southern BBQ and hopefully fitting in a Braves game. I’m excited to be able to have this experience with Wes and Andrew, and we will do our best to bring back gold for Preble and (the district).”
Brendt said he is looking forward to seeing Goral’s and Kuznetsov’s hard work pay off as they compete with students from across the company, as well as meeting other advisors and instructors.
“I am looking forward to seeing where Andrew and Evan stack up with their classmates from across the country,” he said. “These two young men have worked very hard to get to this point, and I would love to see them walk across the podium and get a medal. I am also excited to see and meet instructors who teach the same areas that I teach to bring back new ideas back to my classes at Green Bay Preble.”