LEWISTON – Students from Maine high school and college technical education programs, including a team from Lewiston, won the nation’s highest awards recently at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. Industry leaders representing more than 1,000 businesses, corporations, trade associations and unions recognized the students for their demonstrated excellence in 80 hands-on occupational and leadership contests such as robotics, criminal justice, aviation maintenance and public speaking.

Team A, consisting of Matt Bissonnette, Abigail Cook, Justin Lemay and Christopher Martineau from Lewiston Regional Technical Center, was awarded the High School Bronze medal in Entrepreneurship. Other winning Maine teams were from northern Maine.

“Over 4,700 students from every state in the nation came to compete in the SkillsUSA Championships,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Tim Lawrence. “This is the SkillsUSA partnership at its best. Students, instructors and industry are working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce and every student excels. These students prove that career and technical education expands opportunities. Survey data tells us that 75 percent of these students will go on to higher education and 40 percent will be attending college and working at the same time. Of those graduating from school this year, 76 percent will work in the field for which they’ve trained,” Lawrence said. “They’re the future employees industry wants to hire and promote.”

All student winners received medallions. Many also received prizes such as tools of their trades and/or scholarships to further their careers and education. The SkillsUSA Championships is for high school and college-level students who are members of SkillsUSA.