Terrebonne students advance to national competition

Bryce Theriot, 17, wires an outlet box Monday in the electrical program at Terrebonne Career and Technical High School in Houma.

A year of hard work paid off for eight Terrebonne Career and Technical High School students who competed at this years Skills USA competition in New Orleans last week.

Skills USA is a student career and technical organization that allows competitors to show off a variety of occupational skills in hopes of winning gold medals in their category.

The local schools Skills USA chapter had 31 students competing at the state level, however, only eight will advance to nationals in June to Kansas City, Mo.

Were going to nationals to represent the state of Louisiana, and those divisions are action skills, diesel equipment technology, carpentry, cabinet-making, air-conditioning, electrical constructional wiring and industrial motor controls, and mobile electronics installation, said electrical instructor Charlie Positerry.

Bryce Theriot, 17, is a junior at South Terrebonne High who won gold in electrical construction wiring. In this division, competitors must build two walls of electrical construction by reading a blueprint and a set of electrical specifications. Theriot had only seven hours to build the walls and install electrical boxes and wiring.

What challenged me was hooking up the devices themselves, not running the wire, so Im going to practice that and more grounding safety for nationals, he said.

Tyler Valure, 16, is also a South Terrebonne junior who won gold in his category, HVAC. Here, competitors must be able to braze and solder copper pipe, recover vacuum and recharge a refrigerant circuit along with calculating sub cooling and troubleshooting compressor electrical circuits.

I had to cut pieces of copper and braze them together, then sledge it so it would fit different sizes to wire up a circuit for a gas valve on a thermostat, Valure said. During the summer Id work with my dad on residential units. Ive never gotten to do it myself until now, but I use to observe a lot, he said.

Action skills was another division the Career and Technical High School Skills USA chapter won gold in. In this competition, the student must demonstrate a learned skill in which contestants use examples, experiments, displays or practical operations to clearly explain their skills along with using visual aids. H.L. Bourgeois student Sarah Henry, 15, performed her skill in just under seven minutes.

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Terrebonne students advance to national competition