The Levittown Vocational Center held its 12th annual skills competition last Thursday night at Levittown Memorial. The skills competition provided students at the school an opportunity to showcase the talents they have developed through the vocational center's program.

The vocational center draws students from the two high schools in the Levittown School district as well as from districts such as Wantagh, Seaford, Island Trees, East Meadow, Baldwin, Plainedge, Massapequa, and Bethpage. Students spend a portion of the academic day focusing on trades such as: auto body Repair, auto mechanics, carpentry, child care, computerized business and office practice, cosmetology, culinary arts, design drafting, electrical technology, landscape and floral design, and printing.

The competition allowed students in each of these trades to demonstrate their skills, sometimes in more than one category or in a field related to their trade. The specialty categories in which students competed were job demonstration, job interview and action skills. There were also some subdivisions within the trades. In cosmetology, students could compete in evening style and fantasy, or nail technology. Some students choose to participate in more than one category in their field. In culinary arts, students could compete in the kitchen competition, beverage and food service and/or the bakery competition. In evening cosmetology, carpentry and auto mechanics there are junior and senior divisions.

Hundreds of parents, teachers, friends, local residents, school officials and politicians attended the event to see the students compete in their trades. Among those present was Gary Hudes, the president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, who commented on the positive effect a program such as those at the vocational center has on bringing skilled workers into the workforce. Also present was Assemblywoman Kathleen Murray who was thanked by Assistant Superintendent for Administration Gerald Claps, for the state grant she secured for the vocational center. Murray presented the vocational center with a citation commemorating the event, and remarked upon the incredible talent and creativity on display at the skills competition.

The event was organized and set up by Linda Reed, Paul Chisholm, Alexander Straaik and William Cooper. Reed and Chisholm set up everything and made sure that each of the trade stations had everything they needed for the competition. Straaik set up the trophy table and Cooper and his printing students printed the programs. "It's really a staff event for the kids and everybody on the staff is great about it," said Reed. "When it comes to the kids nobody hesitates, everybody goes the extra mile." The skills competition originally began when the teachers from the vocational center felt that the students needed an opportunity to showcase their talents. It now also provides the students who are members of the national vocational club, VICA, who win first place at the Levittown Vocational Skills Competition to go on to the VICA regional competition. Students who win at regionals can then advance to the state and possibly national competitions.

When asked what the event does for the students, Reed responded, "It builds up their self-esteem and also teaches them good sportsmanship."

The success of the program is displayed in the fact that there are more students competing than in the beginning. Reed believes that this can be attributed to previous participants talking about how great it is. Another positive point of the program is that often alumni of Levittown's program, who are now working in their fields, come back to serve as judges for the competition. This year there were alumni judges in the fields of carpentry, cosmetology, culinary arts, design drafting, and landscape and floral design. An example of an alum who went on in his field and served as a judge for this year's competition is Danny Zampini, a judge in landscape and floral design who now own his owns landscaping/construction company. "It shows that these kids go to vocational and they do go on to make something of themselves," concluded Reed.