300 delegates gathered in a common room while the candidates sat elsewhere, awaiting their opportunity to recite their speeches and explain what makes them the best state officer. After eight hours of listening to others’ speeches and of awaiting her own, Revere High School senior Lizzie Davis stepped on the stage. She discussed the change and expansion that SkillsUSA Ohio would achieve under her leadership. Following her speech, the remaining officer hopefuls crossed the stage and shared their visions.

Having heard eight hours worth of speeches, the 300 delegates finally voted for the final two, one of which was Davis. Again, she stepped on the stage and spoke for votes but answered impromptu questions. The next day the program directors unveiled a picture of Davis in front of a crowd of 5,000 people and told her three simple words: “Congratulations! You won!”

This was the process Davis went through to serve as the president of SkillsUSA Ohio. SkillsUSA puts together competitions for career technical students. State Director Mike Cowles is in charge of managing the SkillsUSA Ohio. Cowles expanded on the purpose of SkillsUSA and the activities the organization runs.

“SkillsUSA is a school leadership organization that is a partnership between industry and schools to provide students with the opportunity to showcase leadership and technical skills,” Cowles said.

Davis is in her second year at CVCC studying engineering and explained what motivated her to run for president.

“The way the organization is run really kind of amazed me how close people were even though they only met a few times,” Davis said.

As president she works with other Ohio board members to organize conferences. There are seven other students from all over Ohio that assist her in running certain events, but before she or any of her board members could preside, they had to undergo training in general leadership skills and ettiquette. Davis described her and the other board members’ responsibilities.

“There is a fall conference and a state conference, and I have to run those for Ohio—me and my office officer team…We do the opening and the closing ceremonies. We have to have all the stuff set up. We basically do all the behind-the-scenes stuff, so the competition goes well,” Davis said.

Another part of her presidential duties involves spreading the news about SkillsUSA. This past summer, Davis and her office members ran a camp promoting SkillsUSA. Davis expressed the impact that camp and SkillsUSA has had on her and others as well.

“A girl texted me and said, ‘I was not planning on staying, but you really made the summer camp for me. You had such a positive impact on my life,’” Davis said.

The competitions at conferences are in various fields ranging from cosmetology to fire fighting. Senior Max Hess recently earned first place in the SkillsUSA Ohio competition for Career Pathways. Hess is in his second year of his Graphic Imaging Technology at CVCC where he learns about printing and photo manipulation. Hess entered a contest about sustainable print and formed a team with two of his classmates. Hess voiced what he believes enabled him to win.

“I am honestly pretty detail oriented about the work that I do, but obviously the other people in my group pitched in an enormous amount. Hours and hours of research, photo manipulation, making banners and merchandise to give out to people [helped],” Hess said.

Hess clarified what the requirements, or lack thereof, were for the competition.

“As long as people did not get too extravagant and have things that extended above fifteen feet. We set up a bunch of posters and took out a laptop and made slide shows. We also had these baby trees, and we were giving them out. It got us a lot of notoriety at the competition,” Hess said.

Cowles explained how membership alone helps students.

“Being able to say you are a SkillsUSA member is something that lets industry know that you have participated in a leadership development program, and you have engaged in something beyond just a regular class,” Cowles said.

Hess plans to study visual communications at Bowling Green State University. Davis is considering either studying engineering at West Virginia Univeristy or attending an equestrian school.