Summerland students excel at Nebraska SkillsUSA competition

Faith King is no stranger to the award stage at Fonner Park in Grand Island.

The Summerland SkillsUSA Chapter president landed there again Saturday, for the fourth time, when she was named winner in job skills demonstration A at the 2023 Nebraska SkillsUSA Convention.

King, along with Carlee Livingston and Julie Olivan, struck gold in their respective categories. They will represent Nebraska, June 19 to 23, at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, in Atlanta, Georgia. Livingston's gold medal came in job skills demonstration open competition, while Olivan won the prepared speech event.

King won state titles in job skills demonstration A in 2019 and 2022. In 2021, she received silver.

She's made the national award stage, too. In 2019, she received bronze after competing in Louisville, Kentucky, and just missed a medal in last year's national competition.

This year, King demonstrates how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on an infant. She's often asked if she plans on going into the medical field, because the topic has to do with medicine.

Her response: "No."

"I actually want to pursue criminal law, but I feel that the topics I present are important. Working for a daycare and library, I have had first-hand experience with kids and scary situations and know just how many people do not know emergency services. I feel that my topic needs to be told in order to save the lives of children all over the world and educate those who may not know it already," King said.

Summerland chapter advisor Mike Odell said King was well prepared and he "felt confident she would repeat as state champion."

"She has been there and done that. Competing and placing at nationals as an eighth grader has given her the confidence to perform well. She understands to be competitive you have to be prepared," Odell said.

King has a specific routine she has "cultivated over the years."

"I begin by practicing the night before and taking a warm shower, before enjoying my favorite snacks and giving myself a mini pep talk. After getting a good night's sleep, I put on my comfiest dress outfit for the contest, and make sure to do the makeup routine that I have always felt comfortable and confident in. I will always double check my supplies before heading to the arena, leaving with a 30-minute head start to make sure that I have time to practice before the competition begins. After running through my speech and giving it to walls, I usually do "foot dancies" to get all my nerves out and listen to my favorite music to hype my brain up. All of these nervous ticks have allowed me to achieve my success, as they channel my nerves and true feelings about everything," King said.

After five years of crafting her speaking skills, King calls winning in her senior season "the greatest of all."

"It's the final state championship of my high school career. I have had the chance to be president for the largest group of members yet and act as a role model for them to remember when they are near my age. As I am a senior, I have worked hard to prove myself as a skilled individual, and I really wanted the chance to show my excellence in front of my future college, Wayne State, to hopefully continue this program at the college level. Having the chance to represent my chapter as a senior member for the third time at nationals, is truly an amazing accomplishment that I will never forget."

Olivan qualified for nationals in 2022, competing in cosmetology.

Her prepared speech encompassed this year's theme, "SkillsUSA: Our Time Is Now." While the presentation does not relate to work she is interested in the future, she relied on speaking skills to get her an edge.

Olivan said, "I love being in speech and I love performing in front of people so that is why I picked this competition."

She admits she wants to fix one element of public speaking before heading to Atlanta.

"As much as I love talking in front of people I do get nervous when it comes to performing in front of a judge. I hope, in the time between now and nationals, I will lose that nervousness," she said.

Otherwise, Olivan felt the competition was easy and felt natural.

Odell said Olivan planned to use some visual aids, but they were not allowed.

The advisor stopped by the competition area.

"A lot of the other speech contestants were using note cards, which is a deduction in points. Her practicing and memorizing her speech is probably what put her over the top," Odell said.

For Olivan, qualifying for nationals equates to hard work.

"It means that you worked harder than everyone else in your competition and that you're the best in the state in that competition," she said.

Livingston demonstrated how to tube a calf.

In job skills demonstration, students are able to use equipment necessary to demonstrate a chosen skill.

Odell said Livingston had a bucket and the tubing and other equipment used in the procedure.

"I am not exactly sure how she showed how to insert the tube, because they never want me to watch them compete," Odell said.

Two Summerland groups earned silver at the competition.

After dropping the first match in quiz bowl, Emma Petersson, Irelyn Bearinger, Emma King, Connor Thomson and Mathew Umphress worked back through the bracket to face Career Pathways Institute, of Grand Island. After defeating them, Summerland squared off against the team again, recording a loss.

The middle school engineering team - Jaelyn Shaver, Sierra Thomson and Cassie Livingston - finished second.

Taelyn Nilson earned bronze in job skills demonstration open division.

Odell said Summerland fielded 21 competitors.

"Overall, the kids performed well. We try to get kids in more than one contest, so that they don't become bored, but that isn't always possible. There were a few who competed in two or three competitions," Odell said.

Other students competing included Karolina Soto, Raina Krebs and Wyatt Napier, welding fabrication; Krebs, Lenora Kester, Connor Thomson and Umphress, technical team problem solving; Emma King, job skills demonstration A; Bearinger and Petersson, promotional bulletin board; Jadyn Hobbs, medical terminology; Colby Hupp, welding sculpture; Kester, T-shirt design; Kester and Thomson, related technical math; Clair Krysl, photography; Garrett Napier, cabinetmaking; Olivan, cosmetology; and Umphress, technical drafting.