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2023 SkillsUSA Telecommunications Cabling Contest

(Greencastle, Indiana) June 29, 2023: The 2023 SkillsUSA Championships are held in June each year as part of SkillsUSA’s Annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), www.nlsc.skillsusa.org. Hundreds of local, regional, and state career competitions are hosted there each year which showcase the best career and technical education students in the nation.

This was ETA^® International’s 17th year sponsoring the competition, and ETA’s 21^st year in a row of helping with the competition. The Telecommunications Cabling Competition can only come about with help from our partners: Corning Optical Communications and Stanley Community College. In addition to the NLSC management and the Courtesy Corps, the telecom contestants received prizes, supplies, and assistance from Southwire^®, Light Brigade^®, eITPrep, Wiley, and GoFroe. This year, SkillsUSA NLSC was held during June 20-23, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center. The team set up for the competition on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday was officially the first day of SkillsUSA NLSC. The competitors arrived to complete their orientation, their written exams for the Customer Service Specialist (CSS) and the Termination and Testing Technician (TTT), complete their toolbox check, and make sure they completed all of their prerequisites. Wednesday was fiber day. This consisted of the morning Fiber Optics Connectorization – Termination and presentation practice which was managed by Corning Optical Communications. Later that day, there was the Fiber Cable Construction Competition, the Fiber Cable Installation Competition, and the virtual interview with Jeffrey Swaringen, Stanley Community College. Thursday was all about copper. The competition consisted of 90 minutes of Copper Construction and 90 minutes of Copper Installation and Termination – 4 Pair, which was primarily managed by Stanley Community College. Then, 40 minutes of copper troubleshooting, which was managed by ETA^{® International.}

Friday was the awards night for all of the competitions at SkillsUSA. The Telecommunications Cabling Contest had six medalists. The high school gold medalist was Thomas Youse from Jefferson County High School in Dandridge, Tennessee. The high school silver medalist was Keagan Scyoc from Mifflin County Academy of Science & Technology in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. The high school bronze medalist was Justin Haggmark from Paso Robles High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. The college/post-secondary gold medalist was Todd Bedard from Manchester Community College in Manchester, New Hampshire. The college/post-secondary silver medalist was Elliot Taylor from Indian Capital Technology Center-Stilwell in Stilwell, Oklahoma. The college/post-secondary bronze medalist was Gabrielle Miller from Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. Congratulations to everyone who won and competed!

About ETA - Founded in 1978 by electronics technicians, ETA^® International is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) association whose mission is to represent and support the technical professional. ETA offers over 80 accredited, vendor-neutral certification programs in a variety of technology fields such as fiber optics, communications, electronics, biomedical, smart home, and renewable energy. ETA aligns with the ISO 17024 standard, vocational and education curriculums, and businesses’ resource initiatives through certification programs, conferences, and publications. For more information, please visit www.etai.org.

Download this press release at – https://www.etai.org/pr/2023_SkillsUSA_Telecommunications_Cabling_Contest.pdf