Final chapter of SkillsUSA - complete!


The trip to Corpus Christi for the State SkillsUSA Competition this year was fun and interesting. Conner did a great job as project coordinator and David was great as a stand-in skills contestant. Considering his past aversion to competititions, he was able to tolerate the experience and even got a few chuckles from the prompt after it was all over. We were very proud of how David and Conner represented us at the contest. They did not medal at State, but of course anyone that knows me well understands that is not why we go. We go to gain one more new experience, and that we did.

The picture above was taken from the balcony at the Omni Bayfront Marina Hotel where we stayed. We were on the 9th and 10th floors, and this was a gorgeous set of days on the bay. Sunshine and temps in the high 70s or the 80s the entire time we were there, and NO RAIN! It was nearly perfect!

Anytime you mix beaches and young people, the mood becomes joyous - this year was no exception. We were very happy that we got mostly blue ribbons on our projects - that indicates that the people receiving blue ribbons had scores of between 90 and 100. Scoring a perfect 100 on her project and receiving the BEST OF SHOW award was senior Ariel Coday. She also recently learned that she has been accepted at the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago, so she is flying high these days! Heartfelt congratulations to Ariel!

Also scoring in the stratosphere on their projects were David and Conner, who were some of the only people who did motion graphics in the competition. Conner's After Effects typography based piece (seen on an earlier blog entry) was awarded a score of 98. David's hand-drawn animation piece about art and inspiration was awarded a score of 99. Great projects indeed, gentlemen - I am very proud that DJCC students continue to blaze trails in innovative project design.

I wish I had a photo to show of the stack of chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes that Conner ordered at the Corpus Christi IHOP. I have never seen such an attempt at food consumption. It is my recollection that he surrendered halfway through, but if I could give him an award for eyes bigger than stomach, he would have won hands down. The food consumption by Conner on the trip was really quite impressive. We all did our fair share of eating, but Conner was most impressive.

Thank you to every one of my students who cared enough to be self-motivated and complete your SkillsUSA projects with minimal supervision and input from me. It has been an interesting time with a wedding and home renovation and State SkillsUSA - and preparations for the opening of the new CCE (Career Center East) on top of it all. Things should begin to calm back down now and we can focus on class, projects and each other. Good job, chapter closed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The happiness train is back on track today!

Image
Ahh. Like a breath of fresh air, my mood is back to usual today. I don't like feeling down in the dumps. The happy train is back in the station, and boy is that a relief. What can you do to elevate your mood when you are feeling glum? Sometimes stress can actually cause you to feel sick. If you have a lot of stress, I have come up with some very simple ways to feel instantly better. These work for me, they may not for you - but if these don't work, there are probably some that are just as easy to accomplish that would work great. Really, all you have to do is ask one question. If someone looked at you and said, "Hey, tomorrow there will be no jobs that you have to get done, no chores, and no one is depending on you at all. You can do whatever you want to do for one 24 hour period, just because you want to do them." If someone gave you that permission, what would you choose to do? I have a few... I would take a long, relaxing bath. I would go to a florist with
Read more

A new topic...Mark has been facing a new challenge.

Image
Just for the eyes of our family: the challenge of prostate cancer. Since the beginning of May, last spring, Mark has earned so much respect from me. He has bravely faced his diagnosis of prostate cancer. He had surgery in July, and now in August, he is recovering from that. I am so proud of how he is dealing with the whole thing. He (thankfully) seems to have caught it early, thanks to his regular yearly physical. His PSA was slightly elevated and his biopsy came back showing cancer in four of twelve cores in his prostate. He had the option of radiation or surgery, and he opted for surgery. We are now post-surgery by exactly one month, so I can report good progress at this point. We have a follow-up appointment coming up soon, and are hopeful that the reports are good. Since I have not discussed it since the diagnosis and surgery, I felt that I should start the dialog here. He is being so proactive and is working hard to do everything he can to get past it all. His diet has flip
Read more

Conner keeps hitting them out of the park!

Sometimes people just get on creative hot streaks, and Conner seems to be on one right now. First he created a new logo for the Dale Jackson Career Center. Then he created an awesome motion graphics typography-based piece in After Effects. Then, when asked to create a new logo for the Career Center East, he created a unique and professional logo AGAIN! Conner, we are proud of what you do every day in terms of your relationships with your classmates and your high standards, but now you also deserve serious respect for your professionalism as well. We are very honored to have a talent like yours in our studio every day. Conner designed this motion piece in After Effects that features the logo design that he created in animated form. The logo is a symbolic representation of a pathway to the top of the earth. The slogan is "Paving the Way" and it is capitalizing on the switch to "career pathways" that we are using in Career and T
Read more