SkillsUSA students from Sonoraville High School have just returned from the SkillsUSA Fall Conference on Jekyll Island. Students were given the chance to test in their chosen career areas, work on team building and develop leadership skills.

Senior Jeremy Warren enjoyed honing his skills as the events speaker for the school’s SkillsUSA group. “I really enjoyed the guest speaker of the conference. He spoke to us about being motivated to live your passion,” he said. Warren plans to pursue a career in Marine Technology.

Sonoraville junior, Jeffrey Wheat came away as the only student in Gordon County with a perfect score on the Statesman Award test. Wheat’s interests in electrical and architectural engineering are a perfect fit for the career construction program offered at Sonoraville High School. He attests his success to studying hard and the efforts of his teacher Butch Birch.

“He’s my role model,” said Wheat. “He has pushed me to do the best I can and he has also moti-vated me to want to be the best I can be. Mr. Birch is a great teacher. He sticks me with hands on experiences in the classroom like cost, measurements and other building aspects of real world con-struction. I enjoy meeting those challenges.”

Blake Hobgood is a junior who has taken several courses in the auto mechanics program to build his skills as a motorcycle mechanic. He attended the conference to support his team and to prepare for the regional and national conferences later this year.

“I like this program and being a part of SkillsUSA because of the encouragement they give us to get hands on experience in the areas we are interested in,” said Hobgood.

“I like working with every aspect of cars and automobile mechanics, especially engines. Mr. (Johnny) Thompson, our teacher, makes every effort to get is involved in the process,” he said.

SkillsUSA students will attend the regional conference Feb. 5. They are offering a fruit sale and collegiate mug sale to raise funds for the trip. For more information, contact Sonoraville High School.