The Information Technology & Programming class at Mayfield have high expectations going into the SkillsUSA competition. Now the SkillsUSA competitors begin preparation for both regionals and states.

Ronald Suchy, the instructor for the ITP program, feels that his class has the ability to perform well which is why he has such high expectations. Suchy’s expectations include, as he said, “That everybody is well prepared, and, when the time comes, they do their best (and) make their best effort.”

The two showcase project teams for ITP feel that they have the ability to advance since their projects have been in production for more than a year. One project includes a new website for a church, and the other is a mobile app for a nature reservation. Suchy said, “I think both of our showcase teams have a very excellent chance at medaling at state… I think they are both gold medal caliber projects.”

However, the showcase teams aren’t the only teams who have a chance to advance to and medal at state. All the other ITP teams are preparing for their respective events, hoping to also gain an opportunity to perform well and earn some awards.

There are many different events within the ITP program and each one has a varied number of participating students that are taking different steps to prepare for the competition. Joshua Jaffe, the President of the ITP SkillsUSA club, is competing in the extemporaneous speech event. He said, “I’m preparing by doing a lot of small topics with a 5-minute time limit… and then giving a short 3 to 5-minute speech for each topic and then seeing how I do when a peer or advisor grades me on my performance.”

Another event that is being prepared for this competition is mathematics. Jacob Holfeltz, Vice President of ITP SkillsUSA club and competitor in the mathematics event, thinks preparation is crucial to performing well at the competition. He said, “Everyone here is doing different events… I look over my math packet and do my review questions at least an hour every night to prepare”.

The students have the opportunity to compete in events of their choosing if they feel they want to try and compete. Holfeltz feels that the whole experience of SkillsUSA is beneficial to everyone participating. Holfeltz said, “We do meetings as a whole chapter once a month… and I think it’s going to be a good opportunity for everyone to learn (because) we have almost everyone in the class willingly competing in the events that they like.”

The video game team is also practicing their speaking routine for the competition. Holfeltz said the team will “have to present it to a crowd so they are really working on their presentation part now.”

All teams are soon going to be following in the video game team’s footsteps as they all prepare to present their projects to a panel of judges.

As a result of their practicing and experience, Suchy also feels that the video game development team has a strong chance at medaling at state, based on how far they’ve gotten within the creation of their game. Suchy said, “I think our game dev teams have a very good chance… honestly we go down there every year to compete and I think we have a very good shot.”

Suchy claims the ITP program has some big shoes to fill because of the program’s success at SkillsUSA. “We’ve had four national champions… a national qualifier from the program in Technical Computer Applications [and] we’ve had national finalists in prepared speech, extemporaneous speaking, in job interview,” Suchy said.

All that’s left to do for the ITP students to do to fill these shoes and meet the high expectations is to prepare for what’s ahead. As each of them have touched on, preparation is a main component in doing well at the SkillsUSA competition. Holfeltz said, “I think everyone really wants to do their best because the top placers actually win scholarships and recognition and I think getting your name out there is really beneficial.”

The regional competitions were Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Polaris Career center in Middleburg Heights and the state competitions are April 11-12 in Columbus.