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WOOD RIVER JCT. Chariho Tech students brought home plenty of gold medals from the state SkillsUSA career and technical school competition on April 4. They will now go on to compete in the SkillsUSA nationals in June.

We brought in 14 gold medals, 12 silver and nine bronze medals in 17 different areas, Director Susan Votto said. Every year we try to compete in more and more competitions. I know they are very well-prepared by the instructors here at the center, and the students are motivated and they want to win and they want to do their best.

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives. The organizations mission is to prepare career and technical students to enter the workforce. Chariho Superintendent of Schools Barry Ricci said the state competition motivated students to elevate their game.

The SkillsUSA competition is a great event as it allows our students to compete against the very best students in Rhode Island, he said. As a result, expectations are raised for everyone. Im so proud of the accomplishments of our students in the SkillsUSA competition. The number of medals received is a tribute to not only the hard work of Chariho tech students, but also to their skilled and dedicated instructors.

Joseph Penhallow, Olivia Pellegino and Nick Edwards won the gold medal in crime scene investigation.

During our junior year, we had a chance to compete at the state competition, so this is our second time around, so it wasnt as nerve-wracking as the first time, Penhallow said. There were nine schools, including us.

Pellegrino said the biggest challenge was meeting the deadline.

Time management was probably our biggest challenge, getting everything done that we had to get done, she said. They were asking us to basically investigate the scene. We had to start with photography, which is what I do, and we also had to measure all the evidence and collect it in under 30 minutes.

I like that it gives students a chance to practice real-word skills before theyre even in college, Edwards added.

Drew Anderson placed first in criminal justice, a field he intends to enter when he graduates from college.

We had to do several different scenarios, such as car stops, and we also had to do other case-law scenarios. Theyd give us a scenario and wed have to handle the scenario. Im going to a four-year college to get a degree in criminal justice.

Criminal justice instructor Lt. Bob Wild had nine students in this years state competition.

Were back to the nationals again this year, which is something weve done three years in a row, he said. This will be our fourth year from crime scene investigation. I have some very talented students. I think theyll do wonders when they get into their careers in law enforcement. Theyre going to be assets wherever they go. Theyre hardworking, dedicated students.

Engineering and drafting students Hunter Claudio and Jordan Beason took first place in the mobile robotics competition.

We upset the entire room and knocked all the big teams off their pedestals, Claudio said. We really stuttered for a little bit, but we came back and just hit it back really strong.

The Chariho teams robot was small and simple a good fit, Beason said, for this contest.

One of the things about the competition was to have a small footprint with our building materials, and we also wanted to make it simple to program, so we made this simple robot that could pick up objects and move them over this fence, he said. Halfway through the match they had something called the engineering challenge where they switched the rules of the competition and our robot really favored the new rules that they came up with.

Wyatt Petrichko won a silver medal and a $1,500 scholarship in computer technology and game design.

We repaired two computers and we also did some service on the computer, making sure it was eligible for our remote desktop connection, stuff like that, he said. The scholarship was a big surprise. Im very excited about that.

In the aesthetics competition, Isla Magnusen and Melissa Morrill took first prize.

I won gold in aesthetics, which is basically makeup application and fantasy makeup, Magnusen said. It was kind of difficult. I felt the most prepared in the room, though.

Morrill was Magnusens model.

I think we made a really good team, because we communicate well, silent communication, and we know each other very well, she said.

Culinary arts student Arianna Angelly won a gold medal for her three-course meal.

I made a roasted cream of broccoli and garlic soup, a balsamic salad, and I made a pan-seared chicken breast with a white wine-mushroom pan sauce, rice pilaf and roasted zucchini, she said.

Angelly, who won a gold medal in the state competition last year, came in sixth at nationals, but this year, she said she was going for the top prize.

This year, I want to place first, she said.

cdrummond@thewesterlysun.com

@cynthiadrummon4

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Chariho Tech takes SkillsUSA state golds, students qualify for nationals - The Westerly Sun