WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
Mount Vernon, OH- SkillsUSA held their annual National Leadership & Skills
Conference June 23-27 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Albert Ross, a recent graduate of Clear Fork High School and Knox County Career
Center’s Precision Machining program, finished in second place in CNC Turning. Ross qualified
for SkillsUSA Nationals by winning the CNC Turning event at the state level.
Ross said, “Simply put, I’m not done. Competing at SkillsUSA Nationals was one of the
greatest technical challenges I’ve faced. It pushed me to study harder and think in ways I hadn’t
before. Now that it’s over, I want more of that feeling. I’m not exactly sure what my next step is,
but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”
Joe LaFevre, KCCC’s Precision Machining instructor, expressed his joy and excitement
about Ross’s achievement.
“The SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference is an absolute honor to attend. I
encourage everyone to go to it at least once. Get out and support SkillsUSA! It’s something
special to see, but becomes even more special when you have a student competing. Having a
student place 2nd in our nation is humbling and emotional,” said LaFevre.
LaFevre added, “From my perspective, I know what I put into my students in an effort to
help them succeed in life and I know what my students put in to do well and succeed at life. To
see a student succeed on the level that Albert has, it feels like grace, because it’s a confirmation
and recognition of the hard work everyone put in to make it all happen. It’s not something just
anyone gets an opportunity in life to become such a part of. It’s an honor to be in the position
and to be able to say we went and had such success. I’ll always be rooting you on, Albert!”
“We want to congratulate Albert and Mr. LaFevre! How exciting to win first place at state
and then get second in the nation! Our national career technical student organizations, like
SkillsUSA, provide great opportunities for leadership training, meeting students from around the
state and country, and to hear from speakers such as Mike Rowe,” Superintendent Kathy
Greenich shared.