WHAT’S NEWS IN PINE-RICHLAND
A.W. BEATTIE TEAM
EARNS THIRD PLACE IN
SKILLS-USA NATIONAL
COMPETITION
Lizzie Ahlborn screamed on stage and
raised her hands above her head. Matt
O’Malley and Jeff Swanson’s hands went
along for the ride, creating the illusion
that she had been lifted off the ground.
The trio had every reason to feel like they
were on cloud nine.
After working on a project for nine
months, the team from A.W. Beattie
earned third place in the SkillsUSA
National Competition for Chapter
Display. Six more A.W. Beattie students
also competed at nationals in other
categories.
Lizzie and Matt (from Northgate) and
Jeff (homeschooled, Pine-Richland) had
won the state championship in April.
“I honestly still can’t believe we’re
third (in the country),” Lizzie says. “It’s
pretty crazy when you think about it, but
I don’t think we had any doubts that we
could do well.”
State champions from across the
country competed in the Chapter
Display competition, in which teams
of three construct a kiosk from
scratch to represent their career center
and articulate programs, hands-on
experiences and workplace safety.
Lizzie brought designs for the project
on the first day of her senior year. A.W.
Beattie’s team was quickly formed
after HVAC instructor Roy Hughes
and Building Construction instructor
John Brown referred Matt and Jeff for
the competition.
“I’m really happy I experienced this
with them,” Lizzie says. “I appreciate
them a lot for everything they did. I know
I couldn’t have done it alone.”
Lizzie was responsible for the design,
art, and incorporating educational value
into the kiosk. Matt focused on the
foundation and structure of the display,
and Jeff built several features including an
interactive motor for the display.
“As we worked more and more together
throughout the school year, we played
off of each other very well,” Matt says.
“For my only time being in SkillsUSA, I
couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
“It was a nice group dynamic,” Jeff adds.
“If anything went wrong with something
like the plaster, Matt could fix it. If our
paint chipped, Lizzie could touch it up.
If there was anything off mechanically, I
could step up. It was nice to have a broad
spectrum of skills.”
After taking home the state
championship, the team was going to
be happy whether or not they placed at
nationals.
“I didn’t want to expect too much,
because we were going up against the top
teams from every other state and we had
some good competition there,” Matt says.
“There were some teams that really stood
out to us, and to know that we were top
three is insane to me.”
Jeff plans to compete in Chapter
Display next year, though he’ll have to
find two new teammates.
“I competed in the Team Works
competition last year and didn’t do so
well, so this year it felt good to win at
states and to be in third at nationals,” he
says. “I’ll be doing it again next year, so
hopefully we’ll do even better.”
Lizzie plans to continue her education
in the fall and will go from A.W. Beattie’s
Advertising Design program to major in
Graphic Design at Point Park University.
Matt, a Carpentry and Building
Construction student, went straight into
the workforce as a Bellevue Borough
employee and plans to be a carpenter.
A.W. Beattie’s Makena Joseph, North
Allegheny’s Dom Gralia, and Northgate’s
Kip Kelly won the state championship
in Career Pathways Showcase: Arts and
Communications. The trio completed
three community service projects and
presented the results to a panel of judges
and competed at nationals.
Three more students won state
championships – Hampton’s Megan
Roth in Advertising Design, Deer Lakes’
Diana Navarrete in Job Interview and
A.W. Beattie’s Nathan Arredondo in
T-Shirt Design – and participated in the
national competition.
A.W. Beattie sent eight students to
nationals in 2018. North Allegheny’s
Grace Cibula and Pine-Richland’s
Savannah and Sierra Luhrman won
the national championship in the
Career Pathways Showcase – Arts and
Communication category.
For more information, contact
A.W. Beattie Public Relations
Coordinator Shawn Annarelli at
[email protected].
Continued on page 10 >
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