MHS grad honored at SkillsUSA National Championships

A career and technical student who graduated from Maricopa High School in May won one of the nation’s highest awards at the 2019 SkillsUSA Championships, held in Louisville, Kentucky, June 26-27.

Vinnie Latona was awarded the high school gold medal in Internetworking. Learn more about Vinnie and top-10 finisher Braydon Sanders, also from Maricopa, in the upcoming August issue of InMaricopa magazine. Both are heading to college after thriving in Brad Chamberlain’s MHS Cisco Academy.

More than 6,500 students competed at the national showcase of career and technical education. The SkillsUSA Championships is the largest skill competition in the world and covers 1.4 million square feet, equivalent to 20 football fields or 25 acres.

Participants earned places in the national competition by winning their categories in state championships. Students demonstrated their technical skills, workplace skills and personal skills in 103 hands-on competitions including robotics, automotive technology, drafting, criminal justice, aviation maintenance and public speaking. Industry leaders from 600 businesses, corporations, trade associations and unions planned and evaluated the contestants against their standards for entry-level workers.

More than 1,100 industry judges and technical committee members participated this year. A total of 1,122 gold, silver and bronze medals were presented to students.