By Nick Michael
Assoc. News Editor
The South Pasadena High School SkillsUSA team competed in a variety of categories at the California State Competition in San Diego from March 31 to April 3. The team sent 53 members to the competition, with 17 winning gold medals and eight winning either silver or bronze.
The team competed in categories ranging from Computer Programming to Basic Healthcare Skills, and performed best in the business competitions. Sophomores Noah Lawrence, Sebastian Chinen, Alex Fonseca, and Cate Latting claimed gold medals in Entrepreneurship, while sophomores Kate Ba, Jae Jin Lee, and Brandon Zhu won gold in CPS Business Management.
“Going into the competition, I didn’t think my group and I were completely prepared,” Fonseca said. “Luckily, we had a day to practice our presentation at the hotel. By the time we competed, our presentation had become good enough to enable us to receive first place.”
The next event for the team is the National Leadership and Skill Conference, which will take place in Louisville, Kentucky from June 20 to 24. All 17 gold medalists qualified for the national competition, making this year’s SkillsUSA team the most successful in school history.
“In the beginning of the year, Jae Jin, Brandon, and I were determined to compete nationally, and after winning first at state we are excited to see our dream be fulfilled,” Ba said. “We sincerely appreciate the help of Ms. Matson-Fennell and Ms. Mason, who took the time out of their busy schedules to help us perfect our presentations.”
