By Lori BODNAR

Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) Academy of Science and Medicine students performed well in Ontario, California at the SkillsUSA California Leadership and Skill Conference state championships. Thirty-one Academy students and four advisors attended. The advisors included Orenda Tuason, Susan Smith, Jacob Shaw and Lisa Pang.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to promote a skilled workforce by encouraging students to excel. SkillsUSA serves over 395,000 middle school and high school students to help propel them into careers in trade, technical or skilled service occupations.

Many CVHS students earned top award gold medals at the SkillsUSA California state championships. In the Career Pathway Showcase, the student team of Michelle Chung, Kalia Manayan and Riley Keum won a gold medal for their project in Health Services. The student team of Claire Yang, Christine Kim, Liana Kazarian, Emineh Geragoosian, Adam Pang and Nathan Pang won a gold medal in the Chapter Business Procedure.

According to SkillsUSA, the Chapter Business Procedure asked students to demonstrate knowledge of a parliamentary procedure and running a typical business meeting with secretary’s minutes, a treasurer’s report and business items.

Eric Eubank earned a gold medal in extemporaneous speaking in which he gave a speech on an assigned topic with five minutes of preparation.

Stella Kim won a gold medal in T-shirt design. The gold medalists will be traveling to Atlanta in June for the national championships at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.

CVHS students also won silver medals as well for their exemplary skills. In the Career Pathway Showcase, the student team of Marta Pambukhcyan, Justin Jeong and Debayon Roy earned a silver medal for their project in Natural Resources. Emily Um won a silver medal in extemporaneous speech. The student team of Megan Parada, Ashley Park, Amy Chantrapanichkul and Eric Markarian earned a silver medal in the Health Knowledge Bowl.

According to SkillsUSA, the Health Knowledge Bowl had questions regarding anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, healthcare procedures, healthcare systems, legal responsibility ethics, safety practices, healthcare current events, employability skills, communication and teamwork. Many CVHS Academy students earned silver medals for their breadth of knowledge in science and health.

CVHS Academy students also earned bronze medals for their projects in the Career Pathway Showcase. Student team Shauna Hong, Kelly Fung, and Neil Breckow won a bronze medal for their project in Natural Resources. the student team of Maryam Akelyan, Haley Kim and David Ajemyan won a bronze medal for their project in Industrial Engineering.

The Crescenta Valley High School Academy of Science and Medicine students earned many medals in the SkillsUSA California state championships. Several students will be representing California in June at the national championships at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta.