SIDNEY - Since his induction last April as New York State SkillsUSA Area II Vice-President, DCMO BOCES and Unatego Central School student Pierce Haney has been very busy.

Haney, a DCMO BOCES Culinary Arts student at the Robert W. Harrold Campus in Sidney Center, attended the SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference this June in Atlanta, Georgia with DCMO BOCES teachers and SkillsUSA advisors Jeanni Romanowski and Nanette LaTourette. While there, he worked with his fellow state officers and the SkillsUSA national officers, completing the SkillsUSA Leverage Training for state officers and participating in delegate sessions, including the voting for this year's National State Officers.

In July, Haney traveled to Albany to work with his fellow state officers to receive additional training and plan for the SkillsUSA Fall Leadership conference. Haney, along with fellow  state officer Antonella Barone, led one of the teams at the conference, held in Albany November 2-4.  The two team leaders trained  chapter officers on how to plan for their upcoming year, as well as taught them important elements  of the SkillsUSA Framework, the “roadmap” for how students and chapters fulfill the mission of the organization.

In September, Haney traveled to Alexandria, Virgina to attend the SkillsUSA Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI). While there, all 542 participants learned how to advocate for the Perkins V grant and how it impacts CTE funding. Haney was able to earn his National Statesman Award, the highest statesman award available to SkillsUSA members, obtainable only through the WLTI conference. He met with staff from U. S. Representative Josh Riley's office as well as staff from Senators Chuck Schumer’s and Kirsten Gillibrand's offices, sharing his personal SkillsUSA story and advocating for continued federal support for the Perkins V Grant.

The travel, training and networking have been transformative for the Unatego senior. “Being in this role has given me lots of opportunities to gain leadership skills and have different opportunities to go to conferences, learn what it’s all about– how to run groups, effective communication, that kind of stuff,” he said. “Before I was a state officer, I didn’t really talk to people, I was very introverted. Through the experience of going to states and especially the nationals, that was the big one, I’ve met a ton of new people. It’s really helped me to come out of my shell.”

Chef Romanowski is both Haney’s SkillsUSA Chapter Advisor and his Culinary Arts instructor, so she has seen the positive impact firsthand, and makes sure that he has every opportunity to apply it. “I told him that if he got elected to that role, I was going to make him speak every chance we get,” she said, and followed through by tasking him with introducing the Culinary Arts students who prepared a recent DCMO BOCES CTE Program Consultants Dinner to the assembled group, which he did with confidence.

Pierce will be continuing his SkillsUSA journey this year with conferences and events in Hershey, PA, New Hartford, NY, Morrisville, NY and ending his year by returning to the SkillsUSA NYS Skills Leadership conference in Syracuse, NY April 21-24, 2026.

- Information from BOCES