Thomas County Central High School had one student and one team place in the recent SkillsUSA state competition.
Jonathan Mills won first place in marine technology and the school’s forensics team placed third in its category. The team is comprised of students J.J. Ward, Langley Wooten, and Morgan Lowe.
?"We are always proud of our students who compete at the state level in their Career Technical Student Organizations," said Beth Adams, CTAE Director and Assistant Principal. "These students have worked hard to prepare to go up against some of the best students in the state, and these results prove that their dedication makes a difference."
Mills is enrolled in the Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair Pathway at TCCHS. He is currently in the second-year class.
Instructor Michael Clapper said he’d heard Mills spent a summer working at a boat shop and asked the student to join SkillsUSA and to compete in the marine technology category.
Though Clapper said Mills was a little nervous to compete, the instructor tried to give his students positive encouragement “to do their best and their hard work would pay off.”
During competition, Mills had to demonstrate skills learned in shop, take a written test, and complete an interview as if he were applying for a job in the marine industry.
“Jonathan’s placement in the competition was a shock to him, since he felt like he was not as prepared as he should have been,” Clapper said. “I feel like his skills and training helped him tremendously.”
Clapper said Mills was “super excited” to place. Mills verifies Clapper’s statement, saying he felt he’d done “very bad” after he’d finished his test, but he was “excited” when they called his name to come to the stage for placement.
“I was excited because I had never placed with any competition before,” he said.
Mills said he enjoys putting in the work on a project and then, once it’s done, being able to have fun with it.
Mills is now preparing for national competition, which will take place in Louisville, Ky., this June. He’s “excited” but also “really nervous” because there will be even more people and competitors. Mills plans to prepare for national competition by reviewing everything he did at state and going over his information, step by step.
Forensics team member Langley Wooten said she’s always been interested in forensics, largely thanks to watching television shows like “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS.”
“My favorite part is that real life forensics is nothing like the shows,” she said. “What we do is real life and that's the best part.”
The team spent numerous hours and days practicing for competition.
“We worked on crime scenes and how to properly work one like we would in real life,” Wooten said. “We learned more than just how to do it, however. We learned why you do it this way and we're told real life stories of how each piece of evidence, no matter how small, was crucial to an investigation.”
Wooten felt the team’s performance “was spot on” and she feels the group has “surpassed the title of team” and become “a family.”
“We were exceptional when it came to communication,” she said. “Everything being done was done in harmony. We've practiced so much we know when we need to help one another without being asked to get everything done and within the time frame. We go to competition and create memories that we still laugh about. It means a lot to be able to work with such great people.”
The TCCHS Forensics team is advised by teacher Dr. Scott Sweeting.