On June 20-24, approximately 12,000 people gathered in Atlanta for SkillsUSA’s 58th annual National Leadership & Skills Conference. SkillsUSA is a national membership association that serves middle school, high school, and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations.

Attendees encompassed students, teachers, education leaders, and representatives from corporations, associations, and businesses all over the U.S. with one focus in mind: quality career and technical education.

But they also came together for the highlight event, the SkillsUSA Championships, which ran from the 22-23. That event encompasses 108 skill and leadership competitions, including Screen Printing Technology. According to the website, it is considered the largest skill competition in the world and one of the single largest days of industry volunteerism in the United States. Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels.

There were over 5,200 students registered in the 108 contests, which was held in an area that covered 1.79 million sq. ft. (roughly the size of 31 football fields).

For the Screen Printing Technology contest, “Contestants are tested on their ability to prepare screens (coat, expose, etc.), register a multi-color design on a manual printing press, and print a multi-color design on a manual printing press. Contestants also complete a written technical knowledge test and participate in an oral professional assessment,” according to the website.

With such a massive, immersive, and hands-on experience, a lot of people and businesses had to come together to make it happen. Among them were representatives from PRINTING United Alliance, MADE Laboratory (MADE Lab), Avient, and several apparel decorating shops from around the industry. Josh Carruth, managing director for the decorated apparel community – PRINTING United Alliance, served as the co-technical chair alongside MADE Lab, but in reality, he was more of the “ring leader of the chaos/gopher/liaison with SkillsUSA. Without Brett [Bowden] and Brian [Lessard], this would not have happened.

“When Aaron Montgomery [of 2 Regular Guys and Our Success Group] heard there was no Screen Print competition chair he reached out to PRINTING United Alliance (me) and alerted us,” explains Carruth. “We had about three months to pull it together.”

Lee Wright, account manager for PRINTING United Alliance’s decorated apparel community, also stepped in to help. “I had the opportunity to observe and judge the young men and women who aspire to be the future apparel decorators of America,” he says. “They were knowledgeable, polite, and a pleasure to interact with.”

A total of 1,150 gold, silver, and bronze medals were presented to students on Friday night, June 24, after the competition at the SkillsUSA Awards Ceremony at State Farm Arena. Many winners also received industry prizes, such as tools of their trade or scholarships.

Medalists also received a Skill Point Certificate representing workplace readiness in the student’s occupational specialty. Skill Point Certificates were awarded to all national contestants who medaled or who met a threshold contest score for their event as an indicator of proficiency.

Winners for the Screen Printing Technology Contest are as follows:

  • High School – Gold Medal: Carter Owens, Pekin, Illinois
  • High School – Silver Medal: Andrew Crispell, Wausau, Wisconsin
  • High School – Bronze Medal: Dylan Pace, St. George, Utah
  • College – Gold Medal: Dusty Hart, St. George, Utah
  • College – Silver Medal: Joshua Rodriguez, Hickory, North Carolina
  • College – Bronze Medal: Dalton Shoemake, Rolla, Missouri

Other individuals and groups that helped make this event a success include Amber Massey of Tshirts for Hope, located in Fortson, Georgia; Nick Burton of Eternal Designs, located in Rome, Georgia; MADE Lab partners Brett Bowden and Brian Lessard; and Ray Smith of Avient. Industry sponsors rallied in a big way, and their support was essential and showed dedication to the future of the industry, not to mention the contestants were stoked by the equipment and prizes.

“I’m so passionate about this industry and wanted to share my enthusiasm and love for it with the students,” says Massey. “I know words can be empowering and I feel like we can deliver praise and constructive criticism with the same grace where students want to get better. We also wanted to let the students know we are there to help them on their journey.”

“It brought me great joy to see how these contestants think, work, and handle the bright lights of a national competition,” adds Burton. “I also wanted to be here to provide a level of diversity to the competition I felt may be missing. To represent other black-owned shops around the nation and provide a level of inspiration to any competitors that look like me, that sound like me, or who felt they could take something of value from me was extremely important.”

Additional thanks also goes to M&R, SAATI, Vastex, Press Hall, Riley Hopkins, GSF, and screenprinting.com.