Lyndon Institute hosted the SkillsUSA welding competition on April 5th and 6th. Students from St. Johnsbury Academy, North Country Union High School, Stafford Technical Center, and St. Albans School traveled to Lyndon Institutes campus to compete in the team welding fabrication and individual welding competitions. In the individual welding competition, students used metals to showcase 5 different welding processes. In the team welding fabrication portion of the event, students created oxy-fuel cutting tables. The student competitors also completed a 50 question exam in their respective subject. The welding sculpture competition was held on April 5th in Randolph. 

This year SkillsUSA contest manager and LI welding instructor, Ryan Brill, was able to expand the Vermont competition. Brill hosted the event last year and was able to reach out to businesses who generously donated materials for this April’s competition. Momentum Manufacturing Group and Capital Steels donated for the individual and team competitions. Welding consumables for both days were provided by Airgas. Additionally, Lyndonville House of Pizza provided lunch to the students.

Five professionals from across Vermont volunteered their time to judge and score the competitions. Matt Keifer from Matt’s Welding in St. Johnsbury commented, “it’s good for the students and the local area.” Jeff Peterson, another volunteer in the welding industry and career pipeline welder, volunteered because he wanted to help support the welding industry. Burt Riendeau, a Certified Welding Inspector has been judging SkillsUSA for over 15 years because “it’s important to support the next generation of welders.” Lastly, industry professional welder John Drown and Airgas' Robery Williams also served as judges to support the students.

A representative from the American Welding Society (AWS) traveled to the event as part of an initiative from the SkillsUSA national committee to observe state competitions. Ms. Ventura selected Vermont as one of a handful of states to visit in 2023 with the goal “to standardize at the state level across the country.” Ms. Ventura also shared, “when you have such a passionate teacher like Ryan Brill, you want to come visit to build the relationship and help the SkillsUSA national and local levels improve.” Ms. Ventura attended both days of competition at LI and will bring her observations back to the national committee in an effort to continue growing the new standardized system. The hope is that by standardizing everything at the state level, the national competition will provide a more even playing field for participants and will better prepare competitors to move on to the world welding competition held every two years. 

Ashton Gould, Colin Kelley, and Anthony Butts from Cabot competed for Lyndon Institute in the team competition and went on to win first place. Zachery Caron, Finn Kowal, and Dominic Laramee from LI competed in the individual welding competition. Zachary Caron placed first, Finn Kowal placed second, and Dominic Laramee finished 3rd in the state. Gracie Peavey and Tamera Casey competed in the SkillsUSA Welding Sculpture Competition. Tamera Casey placed first in the state for her sculpture and Gracie Peavey placed second. All first place finishers in Vermont will go on to compete in the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia in June later this year.

Lyndon Institute also sent students to compete in the SkillsUSA at Vermont Technical College. Graphic design students, Alex LaCoss, Danny Driscoll, and Haley Wenzel competed in the pin design competition. Alex LaCoss placed second with a design featuring a deer. Bryce Stevens, Luke Eason, and Summer Guilmette competed in the t-shirt design competition. Summer Guilmette placed third for her design of a covered bridge and the Vermont State House. Lukas Norheim and Noah Murry also competed in the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition and Quentin Thomas and Mason Schade competed in the Automotive Technology Competition. These competitions are valued within Lyndon Institute because, “it gives students an opportunity to showcase their technical skills, compete with other students from around the state in similar programs and technical centers, and practice their professional skill sets.” said graphic design instructor Bridget Atkins.    

LI would also like to thank the businesses that generously donated in support of SkillsUSA as well as the teachers and community members whose dedication, skill set, and volunteerism made the event successful.