2020 - ECC prepares to host second SkillsUSA Illinois North Region Qualifying Conference

Elgin Community College is partnering again this year with SkillsUSA Illinois to host the second North Region Qualifying Conference on Friday, March 6, 2020. Qualifying events will take place at both the Spartan Drive and Burlington campuses.

Seventeen skills-based career and technical competitions, including automotive service technician, carpentry, early childhood education, emergency services and public safety, nursing assisting, and welding, will take place with an expected 300 area high school students participating.

SkillsUSA Illinois held its first-ever North Region Qualifying Conference at ECC in 2019.  In addition to welcoming over 300 high school participants, members of Spartan Project, a student entrepreneurship and SkillsUSA group, were recruited over 100 additional students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members to serve as judges and event volunteers.

Welding student Tom Limberis served as a judge for the welding competition last year. “The most important thing that I learned from judging is how to decisively and fairly evaluate the critical aspects of a weld in a very short time,” Limberis said. “We only had time to critique the flaws that would cause the weld to fail. I believe I now better understand what evaluators of my welds are looking for, which is a useful tool in practicing my own welding skills.”

A vast cross-section of volunteers is needed to judge skills, serve as interviewers, review resumes, share personal career experiences, discuss technological developments in specific fields, and more. For more information, or to be a volunteer, contact ECC’s SkillsUSA Chapter Liaison Susan Timm at 847-214-7916 or stimm@elgin.edu.

SkillsUSA is an organization for technical, skilled, health, and personal service occupations students in high school and college. More than 302,000 members belong to over 14,000 chapters in 55 U.S. states and territorial associations.