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PITTSBURG —
Syd Stokes and Drew Tersinar will leave today to attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, scheduled June 23-27 at H. Roe Bartle Hall and Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo.
Championship competitions in 94 different trade, technical and leadership areas will be held Tuesday. Stokes and Tersinar will be competing in masonry.
Stokes, son of John Stokes and Sandy Emerson, is a 2012 Pittsburg High School graduate and will be competing in the high school division. Tersinar, son of John and Lori Tersinar, will compete in the college division.
They are both students in the Fort Scott Community College construction trades program, taking courses to earn a masonry certificate. Nacoma Oehme is the head masonry instructor.
He said that the two qualified for national competition by winning at the state SkillsUSA masonry competition, which was held at the Pittsburg Construction Trades Building at 1301 E. 27th, FSCC satellite campus.
“Contestants had to build projects which were judged,” Oehme said. “First place winners go to nationals.”
He noted that Tersinar also competed last year at the World of Concrete, an international event dedicated to the concrete and masonry construction industries held in Las Vegas. He placed fourth.
“Bud Johnson came to Girard High School when I was a junior and did a program about this,” Tersinar said.
He decided to give it a try, liked the work, and now has a job lined up with Adam Lusker Masonry, Frontenac.
Stokes said he became interested because his father did bricklaying and he enjoys hands-on work.
“I’d like to take this further, but I’m only 18 and still not sure what I want to do,” Stokes said.
Whether a student wants to pursue a career in masonry or not, it’s always something to fall back on.
“They can always earn a living with it,” Oehme said.
In the FSCC program, a student can start as early as their junior or senior year in high school.
“They can come in from 7:45 to 11:25 a.m. Monday through Friday and do the basics, then we stay here in the shop laying brick all the time,” Oehme said. “We teach them safety, how things are built and put together.”
Students can complete their associate of applied science and, if they wish, move on to Pittsburg State University for additional education.
Oehme believes the program fills a vital need for both students and industry.
“We need more skilled craft workers at a younger age,” he said. “I really like seeing students get into the trade I love. They didn’t have this when I was in high school, and I’m 24.”
He also believes that being in competitions such as SkillsUSA events helps the students progress in the trade.
“We’re going to get better craftsmen once they’ve competed,” Oehme said. “Both Syd and Drew had pride in their work, and I was honored and happy to have these guys do so well.”
Syd Stokes and Drew Tersinar will leave today to attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, scheduled June 23-27 at H. Roe Bartle Hall and Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo.
Championship competitions in 94 different trade, technical and leadership areas will be held Tuesday. Stokes and Tersinar will be competing in masonry.
Stokes, son of John Stokes and Sandy Emerson, is a 2012 Pittsburg High School graduate and will be competing in the high school division. Tersinar, son of John and Lori Tersinar, will compete in the college division.
They are both students in the Fort Scott Community College construction trades program, taking courses to earn a masonry certificate. Nacoma Oehme is the head masonry instructor.
He said that the two qualified for national competition by winning at the state SkillsUSA masonry competition, which was held at the Pittsburg Construction Trades Building at 1301 E. 27th, FSCC satellite campus.
“Contestants had to build projects which were judged,” Oehme said. “First place winners go to nationals.”
He noted that Tersinar also competed last year at the World of Concrete, an international event dedicated to the concrete and masonry construction industries held in Las Vegas. He placed fourth.
“Bud Johnson came to Girard High School when I was a junior and did a program about this,” Tersinar said.
He decided to give it a try, liked the work, and now has a job lined up with Adam Lusker Masonry, Frontenac.
Stokes said he became interested because his father did bricklaying and he enjoys hands-on work.
“I’d like to take this further, but I’m only 18 and still not sure what I want to do,” Stokes said.
Whether a student wants to pursue a career in masonry or not, it’s always something to fall back on.
“They can always earn a living with it,” Oehme said.
In the FSCC program, a student can start as early as their junior or senior year in high school.
“They can come in from 7:45 to 11:25 a.m. Monday through Friday and do the basics, then we stay here in the shop laying brick all the time,” Oehme said. “We teach them safety, how things are built and put together.”
Students can complete their associate of applied science and, if they wish, move on to Pittsburg State University for additional education.
Oehme believes the program fills a vital need for both students and industry.
“We need more skilled craft workers at a younger age,” he said. “I really like seeing students get into the trade I love. They didn’t have this when I was in high school, and I’m 24.”
He also believes that being in competitions such as SkillsUSA events helps the students progress in the trade.
“We’re going to get better craftsmen once they’ve competed,” Oehme said. “Both Syd and Drew had pride in their work, and I was honored and happy to have these guys do so well.”
