SkillsUSA Student Travels to Calgary to Compete in International Competition
LEESBURG, VA—August 5, 2009—SkillsUSA, the organization that represents the United States in the WorldSkills Competition, will send 16 students as part of the United States “WorldTeam” to compete in the 40th international event to be held September 1-7, 2009. This year, Amela Mujkic, of Clinton Township, MI, and a student at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, will represent the United States in Calgary, Canada in the WorldSkills Printing Competition.
Every two years, hundreds of young people from 51 member countries or regions compete in the prestigious WorldSkills Competition. Member countries include: Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Brazil, and many others. Considered “the best of the best” these contestants compete for four days in 45 occupational skill areas from economic sectors including manufacturing, information technology, transportation, construction and services. Accompanied by their teachers, trainers and industry technical committee experts, these young people compete before the public in contests that are run by and judged by industry using demanding international standards.
Over its 55-year history, WorldSkills International has come to symbolize the pinnacle of excellence in technical training. This year, in Calgary, more than 1,000 competitors will test their skills. Five thousand international experts, delegates and judges from around the world and 3,000 volunteers will attend. A total of 150,000 student and public spectators will attend the competition at Stampede Park situated on 193 acres with 800,000 square feet of competition space. For more information about the competition go to: http://www.worldskills.org.
Mujkic earned the right to be a member of WorldTeam by winning local, district and national contests in printing under the SkillsUSA program. Competitors must be under the age of 23. According to WorldSkills International printing competitors must be able to:
• prepare image materials such as relief, planographic (flat) and intaglio printing plates
• fit printing plates or cylinders on presses, mix the inks that go on them and adjust the color flow to the image
• adjust the paper feeding devices that separate and feed sheets through the machine or the web (reel) of substrate
• check that the substrate passes through the press correctly
• carry out minor repairs and routine maintenance
• set-up and operate `in-line' finishing functions
• work with single and multi-color printing presses
• perform all the above tasks in both small business and large manufacturing settings
Organizations supporting United States’ participation in the WorldSkills Competition include: Lowe’s Companies Inc., Ferris State University and the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. The organization helps students excel by augmenting their technical education with training in leadership, team-working skills and in citizenship and character development. SkillsUSA serves more than 300,000 students and instructors annually. The organization has 16,693 teachers and school administrators who serve as professional SkillsUSA members and instructors. More than 1,100 businesses, industry and labor sponsors actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions, and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. Many more work directly with state associations and local chapters. For more information about SkillsUSA, visit www.skillsusa.org.