KAYSVILLE -- In preparation for the State Champion-ship, the Skills USA Region Two Championships were held at the Davis Applied Technol-ogy College (DATC) Wednes-day, Feb. 9. High school and college students from around Davis County met to compete in several occupational and career-oriented events such as culinary arts, welding, and architectural drafting. Opening ceremonies began with the introduction of the Region 2 officers and the em-blem ceremony. DATC Presi-dent, Michael Bouwhuis, gave the opening remarks to the over 200 judges and contestants.

Region 2 President, Aman-da Taylor, introduced the events and encouraged each of the competitors to continue to advance their skills in their events and "as leaders of a great organization."

Students had a first-hand chance to show off their skills and compete against the best and brightest leaders of tomorrow.

"Skills USA has helped me understand how important developing skills is in my future," said Cidne Christensen, Northridge High School, who took first in extemporaneous speech. "It looks great on a college application and I like winning trophies at region!"

Not just students appreciate the opportunities offered at Skills USA.

"Each year this competition gets bigger and better," said Davis High's Skills USA advisor, Larry Farnsworth. "The kids are starting to understand the benefits of winning their competitions."

Mark Thurman, also from Northridge, enjoyed his competition in Job Interview.

"This is something I normally wouldn't do, but it has helped me become a better public speaker, improve my interview skills, and build my portfolio," said Thurman.

State officers and their advisor, Patrick Thompson, came to support the competitors and winners from each of the 18 different contests.

"I love watching the unique events, especially job interview," said Thompson. "That's the competition that introduced me to Skills USA."

During his keynote speech, Thompson charged each of the students to utilize Skills USA to not only advance their particular event, but to increase their public speaking, leadership, and em-ployability skills.

"Be a little bolder, and let everyone know that you are the leaders of tomorrow," said Thompson.

First-place winners from each event are now preparing for the State Championship to be held at Salt Lake Com-munity College on March 31 and April 1.

First-place winners include:

-Ryan Kemp, Layton High, Architectural Drafting

-Eric Elliot, Layton High, Automotive Service Tech

-Nathan Griffin, Davis High, Cabinet Making

-Jay Love and Jake Van Natter, Northridge High, Carpentry

-Lisa Ercanbrack, DATC-Davis High, Commercial Baking

-Karlie Miller, DATC-Clearfield High, Cosmetology

-Andrew Hansen, Northridge High, Electronics Tech

-Cidne Christensen, Northridge High, Extemporaneous Speech

-Amanda-Lyn Taylor, Northridge High, Graphics Communication

-Kaitlyn Manning, Davis High, Jobe Interview

-Genevieve Ashby, DATC-Davis High, Nail Care

-Seili Lewis, Davis High, Photography

-Shane Adams, DATC-Northridge, Plumbing

-Bradley Hansen, DATC-Davis High, Precision Machine Tech

-Zach Beazer, Davis High, Prepared Speech

-Wendy Alberts, layton High, Promotional Bulletin Board

-Nick Bennett, Clearfield High, Technical Drafting

-George Rafael, DATC-Layton, Welding.