School District Five SkillsUSA Chapter shines at SkillsUSA National Conference

For Immediate Release – July 23, 2026

School District Five SkillsUSA Chapter shines at SkillsUSA National Conference

IRMO – The SkillsUSA chapter at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies (The Center) were once again successful at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 16, 2026.

The conference totaled more than 19,000 attendees from across the country, with over 2,000 industry professionals, and countless experiences. The Center had 25 students competing across 15 competitions. Fifteen of those students finished in the Top 10 of their competition, including 5 who medaled (3 competitions). The Center was also named a National Model of Excellence for the sixth time in seven years, making them among the Top 24 chapters out of over 5,000 nationwide.

National Placers

·         1^st Place: Harper Chapman- Prepared Speech - Middle School

·         2^nd Place: Richard Haines, Anna Halligan, Bailey Lunsford-Occupational Health & Safety Multiple

·         3^rd Place: Graham Thompson- Career & Technical Educator

·         Model of Excellence: Student Representatives-Parsons Harper, Famke Steiert

This is the sixth year in a row that The Center’s SkillsUSA chapter has had students medal at the National Level. Harper Chapman is the first SkillsUSA Middle School National Champion and medalist from School District Five.

“We continue to find success at the local, state, and national level as individuals and as an entire chapter thanks to the hard work of these students, teachers, and administration,” said lead advisor, Joseph Chapman. “SkillsUSA has not only become an extremely important piece of Career and Technical Education in our district but has become part of our community and local industry. Each year, we challenge our students to build off of the previous year and find new, innovative ways to grow our community, grow themselves, and pave the way for those to follow. We are extremely proud that they consistently rise to the challenge and represent us all with pride.”

Of those who medaled, all graduated this June except for Graham Thompson, who will return to the Culinary Arts program as a senior at Spring Hill High School, and Harper Chapman, who will be attending Spring Hill Middle School as a seventh grader.

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