About 120 Southern-Arizona high school students put their construction skills to the test Friday at Skills USA’s Region 6 Construction Competition. The event was hosted at Catalina High School in midtown.
Skills USA is a national organization that promotes career and technical education. Competitions are hosted each year at local, state and national levels. At Catalina High School, students competed in seven different construction related categories such as plumbing and cabinet making.
Mark Riggi, Skills USA Workforce Development Chair said, “The biggest thing is we’re trying to make sure is the students and their parents know that construction is a viable option as a career. So we’re trying to show that this is something they can get into and actually make a career out of it and make a living out of it.”
San Manuel High School student Julianna McClintock Rodriguez was back at the competition for her second year. She was working on building a workbench with her partner.
“I’ve grown a passion for it,” McClintock Rodriguez said. “I’ve grown [to like] learning to work with wood, working with these big machines and all these big drills, hammers and nails. It’s just so fun to me.”