AMERICUS — South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) students captured two gold medals and a bronze at the 45th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) competition in Kansas City recently. Over 5,000 outstanding career and technical education students from across the nation competed in 91 different trade, technical and leadership fields. Only the top SkillsUSA winners from each state earned the right to participate at the national level.

Cody Palmer of Andersonville captured the highest score for practical nursing at the national competition and was awarded a gold medal for being the best in the nation. Zackery Ledger of Americus was SGTC’s second gold medal winner at the SkillsUSA National Competition, scoring the highest in medical math. Tiffany Kitchens of Andersonville brought home a bronze medal for nurse assisting.

All three SGTC students were congratulated for their gold medals by Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson, who attended the national competition in Kansas City. Only five Georgia students received gold medals and SGTC brought home two of the five top place finishes.

“We are extremely proud of our students who excelled at the SkillsUSA national competition,” said SGTC President Sparky Reeves. “Two first-place finishes and a third-place finish in the nursing competition is a strong indication of the outstanding education that South Georgia Technical College provides. I would like to commend Cody Palmer, Zackery Ledger and Tiffany Kitchens for their outstanding performance and also instructors Michele Ragsdale and Jennifer Childs for their work with the students to help prepare them for this competition and for a career in the nursing field.”

At the national competition, students work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like electronics, welding, computer-aided drafting precision machining, practical nursing, medical assisting and culinary arts, among others. The contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by industry.

Nine SGTC students earned the right to compete in the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City by capturing first place finishes at the state level.

In addition to Palmer, Ledger and Kitchens, the other six SGTC students that competed in the national competition included Jerimey Johnson of Cordele in the individual welding competition and Kenneth Schlegel of Leesburg and Parker Lanier of Bainbridge who competed in mechatronics.

Tommy Skinner of Leesburg teamed up with Luke Kessinger of Unadilla and Josh McKinney of Rochelle to compete in the welding fabrication contest.

Accompanying the students on their trip were SGTC nursing instructors Ragsdale and Childs, welding instructor Brenda Butler Gilliam and industrial electrical instructor James Halford.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. It is a national nonprofit organization serving teachers, high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skills service occupations, including health occupations. The Skills USA program hosts local, state and national competition for students to showcase their skills learned through hands-on training in the classroom.