Willowbrook students stand out at SkillsUSA
While their peers hang out at the pool, work summer jobs or sleep late this June, three students from Willowbrook High School in Villa Park will ship off to Kansas City, Mo., for a high-stakes weekend.
Senior Kyle Shanahan and juniors Brittany Gilbert and Brittany Biagioli each took a top spot this month at the 2008 Illinois SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference in Springfield, a career and technical education contest.
Their wins qualify them to compete in the National Leadership and Skills Contest in Kansas City June 23-27.
They were joined this month by 16 other Willowbrook students and three advisers at the state contest, where they went head to head against students from across Illinois in eight categories: action skills demonstration; automotive service technology; food and beverage service; full-service auto; job interview; job skill demonstration; principles of technology; and related technical math.
Willowbrook advisers Matt Feuerborn and Brian Elliot said this year's automotive hands-on competition was the toughest and longest ever created by Lincoln Technical Institute/701 Mechanics Union.
The contest included 20 stations that took students about seven hours to complete.
Ultimately, their work paid off in almost $50,000 in prizes and scholarships, which the students earned from the State Leadership and Skills conference, due to their rankings listed below:
Action skills demonstration: Johny Manherz, sophomore, fourth place
Automotive service technology: Kyle Shanahan, senior, first place; Chris Grazian, senior, sixth; Hector Chuy-Roldan, senior, 11th; Eric Lamberty, junior, 12th; Chris Krinner, senior, 17th; Matt Fiene, senior, 19th; Steve Mussatto, senior, 19th (tied); Anthony Santore, senior, 27th; Paul Putong, junior, 29th; Marina Anderson, sophomore, 32nd; John Price, senior, 36th; Dan Quiroz, junior, 40th; Matt Schopa, senior, 41st
Automotive service technology, post-secondary: Vincent Tiberio, Willowbrook Class of 2006 and currently attending Waubonsee Community College, first place
Food and beverage service: Brittany Gilbert, junior, first place
Full-service auto: Johny Manherz, sophomore, fourth place; Joe Iacono, junior, fifth place
Job interview: Nathaniel Caswin, sophomore, 32nd place
Job skill demonstration A: Nathaniel Caswin, sophomore, 28th place
Principles of technology: Brittany Biagioli, junior, first place; Joe Iacono, junior, second; Alex Krieter, junior, third
Related technical math: Alex Krieter, junior, 16th place; Brittany Gilbert, junior, 18th; Brittany Biagioli, junior, 26th place.
-- Elisabeth Mistretta