Recognizing SkillsUSA Winners
Pressmaker awards scholarships, equipment use, and a trip.
Staff -- graphic arts online, 9/1/2004
KENNESAW, GA.–Heidelberg USA will honor the student winners and their respective teachers involved in the SkillsUSA Competition in Graphic Communications with scholarships, use of new Heidelberg equipment, and a trip to the 2004 Graph Expo and Converting Expo show in Chicago. Heidelberg has since 1999 been a sponsor of the event, an annual trade skills competition held this year in Kansas City, Mo. This year's winning students are from secondary and postsecondary schools.
The SkillsUSA Competition in Graphic Communications is a multimillion-dollar event that encompasses a space equivalent to 11 football fields. In 2004, more than 4,500 contestants participated in 77 separate events. Nearly 1,500 judges and contest organizers from labor and management make the national event possible.
Winners Azariah Cornish and Meghan Boyle, along with their instructors, will be the featured guests at the annual Heidelberg SkillsUSA dinner to be held during Graph Expo on October 10.
As part of the winner's package, Heidelberg will install a new Printmaster QM 46 two-color press in each of the schools Cornish and Boyle were enrolled in at the time of the competition. Each winner will receive a prize package from Heidelberg that includes a $1,000 scholarship, the trip to Graph Expo, design and printing software, a printing and graphics guide, and a host of industry-sponsored gifts to help the students with their studies.
The competition tests students' abilities in every aspect of printing, including prepress design, computer-to-plate, press operation, and finishing. Cornish and Boyle also were judged on their knowledge of real-world applications, which are designed to test and prepare students for work found in today's print businesses.
Cornish, a recent graduate at the Autry Technology Center, Enid, Okla., plans to attend a major engineering university after completing one year of work in the field. He currently works for a local print shop in typesetting and bindery, in addition to designing and creating layouts for several sections of the local paper.
