SSCS seniors, Ruby Culletto and Rhiannon Islip, joined nearly 70 other students from 19 area school districts in Syracuse this week to represent Capital Region BOCES during a statewide competition that tests their abilities in the skilled trades and workplace.
Ruby Culletto is in the Culinary Arts & Hospitality program and will be competing in the Commercial Baking competition; and Rhiannon Islip is in the Criminal Justice program and competing in the CSI competition.
The competition is being conducted at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse from Wed., April 26 to Friday, April 28th. Winners from that event will advance to the national SkillsUSA competition in June. Students compete in everything from demonstrating a knowledge of proper welding techniques to demonstrating how to solve a crime through their crime scene investigator skills.
Ruby and Rhiannon both really enjoy the challenge of competing at a state-wide level. “I like the competition, it’s fun and I really like meeting people from different schools who are also interested in criminal justice,” said Rhiannon.
“I did Skills last year and I thought it was great. I enjoyed meeting the people and talking to everyone and showing what I can do,” said Ruby. “There are also scholarships available and the opportunity to meet people in the industry. It’s a lot of fun.”
SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school and college students. The organization promotes personal and professional growth and offers students the opportunity to compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. For more about the program, visit https://www.nysskillsusa.org/.
Capital Region BOCES 2023 SkillsUSA Competitors
Rhiannon Islip (center) with her Capital Region BOCES Criminal Justice classmates.
Ruby Culletto (left) with her Capital Region BOCES Culinary Arts classmates.
Rhiannon Islip and teammates take home an award in the Crime Scene Investigation competition
