HERSHEY, Pa. | Six Lehigh Career & Technical Institute students won first place at the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Leadership and Skill Championships held April 13-15 at Hershey Lodge. Four of the first-place finishers also qualified to compete June 20-24 at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

LCTI’s first-place winners are:

William Allen High School

Ishalys Garcia, Painting & Decorating
Contest: Painting & Decorating

Emmaus High School

Malachi Atkinson, Web Design/Web Programming
Contest: Web Design

Jeffrey Pennycoff, Indoor/Outdoor Maintenance
Contest: Building Maintenance

Lehigh Valley Christian High School

Ryan Kuntz, Precision Machine Tool Technology
Contest: CNC Milling Specialist

Parkland High School

Kyle Tretter, Precision Machine Tool Technology
Contest: Precision Machining Technology

Southern Lehigh High School

Alex Heffelfinger, Web Design/Web Programming
Contest: Web Design

Atkinson, Heffelfinger, Kuntz and Pennycoff each have an opportunity to represent LCTI at the SkillsUSA national championships this summer. The national championships do not include the contest categories in which Garcia and Tretter competed.

The following students earned second- and third-place finishes at the state championships:

Catasauqua High School

Madison Xander, Advertising Design/Commercial Art
Contest: Advertising Design, Third Place

Emmaus High School

Howard Moyer, Heavy Equipment Operations & Preventive Maintenance
Contest: Heavy Equipment Operations, Third Place

Kenny Pavlick, Print Technology/Graphic Imaging
Contest: Graphic Communications, Second Place

Northern Lehigh High School

Dylan Berger, Small Engines/Recreational Vehicle Repair
Contest: Power Equipment Technology, Third Place

Northwestern Lehigh High School

Gavin Mengel, Precision Machine Tool Technology
Contest: CNC Technician, Second Place

Salisbury High School

Desiree Nester, Health Occupations
Contest: Basic Health Care Skills, Second Place

Southern Lehigh High School

Alejandro Ramos, Precision Machine Tool Technology
Contest: CNC Turning Specialist,  Second Place

Whitehall High School

Miranda Gunkle, Health Occupations
Contest: Nurse Assisting, Second Place

SkillsUSA is one of seven career & technical student organizations at LCTI. Diesel Medium & Heavy Truck Technology instructor Randy Schock serves as the chapter advisor.

Congratulations to all of our competitors and best of luck to the first-place finishers who are heading to Kentucky for the the national championships in June!

Read the complete news release.

Media Contact: Precious Petty, Public Relations Coordinator, 610-799-1450, pettyp@lcti.org