Morrisville State College to host high school skills contest

More than 900 high school students from 16 schools will have the opportunity to showcase a multitude of skills and talents in the Region II BOCES Skills USA competition being hosted Feb. 8 at Morrisville State College.



Formerly SkillsUSA-VICA, the annual conference features high school students from technical schools and BOCES programs throughout Central New York competing in a variety of events.



The competition includes 55 contests ranging from nurse assisting, job interviews, commercial baking, culinary and cosmetology, to auto service technology, welding and residential wiring. New to this year's competition are floral design, and plumbing.



Contests will be held throughout the campus including at the college's auto and wood technology buildings, in Bailey Hall and the Copper Turret student-run restaurant. They will begin at 9:30 a.m. and some will run through mid-afternoon.



“The event provides students with an opportunity to showcase their skills, and it also exposes them to our academic programs, services and state-of-the-art facilities,” said Sarah Mazza, conference and catering coordinator, Morrisville Auxiliary Corporation (MAC).



Participating schools include HG Sackett Technical Center, Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, OCM-IE Henry, Bohlen Technical Center, Oswego County BOCES, DCMO-Chenango BOCES, OCM (Onondaga Cortland Madison)-McEvoy Center, DCMO (Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego) BOCES-Harrold Campus, Herkimer-Hamilton-Fulton-Oswego BOCES, Madison-Oneida BOCES, NCOC (Northern Catskills Occupational Center in Grand Gorge, NY), Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, OAOC (Otsego Area Occupational Center), Broome-Tioga BOCES, Seaway Career and Technical Center, and Institute of Technology-Syracuse.



Competitions will be judged by Morrisville State College faculty, students, and representatives from industry and education. The college will be offering scholarship opportunities to some of the award winners.



An awards ceremony will follow the contests with trophies awarded to the top three finishers in each competition. The top winners in each category go on to compete in the state competition. One winner from each state competition will go on to a national competition.



In the event of inclement weather, the competition will be held Feb. 15.



For more information about the BOCES Skills USA competition, contact at 315.684.6076.