Third year student in graphic design and junior Nikki Galvez came only eleven points short from competing at Nationals.

SkillsUSA is more than a club, but rather a Career Technical Student Organization. A CTSO is connected with all of the CTE classes.“SkillsUSA is a career program that helps students prepare for the work force” said Nikki Galvez, a third year student for graphic design and the president for the chapter at Perry.

Like many other clubs SkillsUSA offers opportunities for students to compete in state and national competitions. This club tests the abilities of students in work fields like graphic design. A description of the contest from SkillsUSA includes,  a written test, where competitors will recreate a given advertisement on the computer. Competitors are then judged upon their accuracy and proficiency with the industry standard software.

The second part of the contest includes a creative portion, where students must design design their own graphics, “The creative portion portion involves the application of creative thinking and development of a design problem” explains the SkillsUSA website.

Once a contestant wins at the state level, they are given an opportunity to compete at the national level. This year Galvez, came close to competing in nationals when she made it second at the state level. “It was between my friend and I, we were just sitting there waiting to see who would make to the top three” Galvez added, “I was eleven points from making it to first place.”

“We never had a student go to nationals because they only take top place” said graphic design it teacher Miss. Butler.

“It would have been really cool but at the time me I thought I was doing really bad” said Galvez. Although she remains hopeful for next year, “I’ll have to keep it up and try again, but I won’t be mad if I don’t make it to first.”