Charlottesville Area Technical Education Center (CATEC) hosted its first District SkillsUSA Competition for students since 2020 on Friday, February 7, 2025 beginning at 9:00 a.m.
District SkillsUSA Competitions allows high school students from CATEC, Massanutten Technical Center in Harrisonburg, Valley Career and Technical Center in Fishersville, and Greene County Technical Education Center in Stanardsville to practice their newly-acquired technical skills with some friendly competition built in. Approximately 70 high school students from the four schools competed in 8 competitions across 5 programs.
SkillsUSA District Representative for CATEC, Adriane Butler, says this event is important for students because “these local competitions between programs at different schools provide high schoolers with opportunities to challenge themselves and persevere through problems as they test their new skills. It’s exciting for them to meet and compete against their peers. We’re particularly excited to host the competition for the first time in five years.”
Competition judges were recruited from CATEC’s Advisory Boards as well as the community. These field experts support young people entering skilled trades by volunteering their time at this event. Competition winners received prizes and the chance to move on to SkillsUSA State competitions, held in Roanoke in early April.