Cam Wyatt receives Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year award

Cam Wyatt, educator at Homer High School, receives top state award as 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor!
“This has been a bonus year for me,” said Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator. “The 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year is a high honor and it will hang right beside the 2015 ACTE Promising Practice Award presented to me in November at the Alaska Statewide ACTE Conference. To be selected as the 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year by my peers, mentors and supervisors is a personal and professional honor. Twenty-six years of teaching has led me to develop an instructional style that focuses on “allow the eyes to see what the hands are doing and the mind is thinking.” This proactive constructivist style is a student centered growth mindset philosophy that values hands on learning. SkillsUSA is all about being able to demonstrate skill sets that lend themselves to be “Prepared-Polite-Productive”. Roll it all together and you have an educational environment that is exciting, full of discovery learning, and promotes personal investment by all. As many know, I’m retiring from the classroom this year and will become Principal of Mesa County School District 51 Career Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. It has been a lifelong dream to lead a school of this type and now I get my chance. My two decades of service in KPBSD have served me well. I will take this award and others with me as I continue to make a difference in the lives of young people.”

Cam Wyatt, Homer High School, with KPBSD students at Alaska State SkillsUSA conference
Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator, with KPBSD students at Alaska State SkillsUSA conference

“Mr. Wyatt is one of the best teachers we have in our district and I am in so proud of his efforts with our students,” said Superintendent Sean Dusek. “This is a well-deserved award and I am very exciting recognition that he has earned. While I am sad to see him retire from our district, I am happy for him and the next steps in his career that will allow him to be closer to family.”
“Cam is an ambassador and a tremendous asset for the students and the programs of SkillsUSA and the learning community of Homer,” said Matt Widaman, Work Experience & Work Force Coordinator  It is exciting to see the powerful impact that Cam has had on the students of Homer High and surrounding Russian village schools, helping them gain the skills and the confidence to tackle and succeed with some very technically challenging projects. Cam’s students are well prepared and compete in a wide variety of different competitions. He provides a culture of leadership and high expectations for his students and the SkillsUSA programs at Homer High School.”
Links

Cam Wyatt, 2016 Alaska State Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor award recipient
Cam Wyatt, 2016 Alaska State Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor award recipient

KPBSD students score at SkillsUSA conference

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Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) add value to the overall development of our Career and Technical Education (CTE).  KPBSD students from CTE classes have the opportunity to be involved in the SkillsUSA CTSO organization. This organization, or club, allows students to compete against other students in competitions that involve the use of the skills taught and developed in KPBSD CTE classes. An example of this is the welding competition. Students that are currently enrolled in (or have already taken) a welding class compete against other students across the state in a competency test involving welding. In this particular event students take a structural welding test similar to what a welder would have to do in order to prove his or her competency for a construction company.
Judges, usually from industry, evaluate the welds by visual and bend tests, just like in the real world, and a winner is chosen. Students also compete in leadership competitions. These competitions include: Job Interview, Prepared Speech, Extemporaneous Speech and Quiz Bowl. OurSkillsUSA students that participate in the district, state, and national events get to experience what it’s like to compete in a competitive job market, which is very similar to what they will be experiencing when they compete in the world of work.
Cam Wyatt said, “SkillsUSA is the best keep secret in Alaska. Our kids love it and it is a pure “performance based assessment” that incorporates soft and hard skill sets.”

Alaska State SkillsUSA State conference
March 31 – April 2, 2016

Action Skills
2nd place – Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School
Carpentry
1st place – Gregory Smith, Homer High School
Crime Scene Investigation
3rd place – Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Derek Lewis, Soldotna High School
Culinary Arts
3rd place – Brianna Bushnell, Kenai Central High School
Early Childhood Education
1st place – Margaret McGlothen, Soldotna High School
2nd place – Savannah Kreider, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Hannah O’Dell, Soldotna High School 
Employment Application Process
1st place – Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School
Extemporaneous Speaking
1st place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
2nd place – Margaret McGlothen, Soldotna High School 
Job Interview
1st place – Mara Youngren-Brown, Kenai Central High School
Photography
2nd place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
Prepared Speech
1st place – Michael Lewis, Soldotna High School
2nd place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
3rd place – Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School 
Quiz Bowl, 1st place team
Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School
Ashley Jones, Soldotna High School
Derek Lewis, Soldotna High School
Michael Lewis, Soldotna High School
Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School 
Restaurant Service
1st place – Andrew Agosti, Kenai Central High School
2nd place – Ashley Jones, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Mara Youngren-Brown, Kenai Central High School
Technical Drafting
2nd place – Liam Floyd, Kenai Central High School
Welding
1st place – Hayden Chase, Homer High School
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Professional Development Program, Students who Scored 75% or higher

  • Soldotna High School, Hannah O’Dell
  • Soldotna High School, Savannah Kreider
  • Kenai Central High School, Alexis Koroll
  • Soldotna High School, Afton Carlson
  • Soldotna High School, Ashley Jones
  • Kenai Central High School, Andrew Agosti
  • Homer High School, Nolan Bunting

2016-2017 SkillsUSA State Officers

  • Derek Lewis – Soldotna High School, Historian

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