SYRACUSE – Over 50 DCMO BOCES students from both Robert W. Harrold and Alan D. Pole Campuses arrived in Syracuse on Wednesday, April 21, for the NYS SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and Skills Championships, held at the New York State Fairgrounds. They and their advisors joined over 3,000 student competitors from across the state for several days of skills evaluation, presentations, and leadership activities. The event is supported by hundreds of industry and education partners from across the state, who served as industry advisory members, contest chairs and judges for the skills contests.

Competitions were held in over 80 trade areas, from Automotive Technology to Welding. Students spent Thursday morning demonstrating their skills and abilities in challenging competitions, spread across six buildings on the fairgrounds (and outside, in the case of Heavy Equipment Operation). All the competitors were members of a SkillsUSA Chapter at their school, and they were accompanied to Syracuse by their advisors. Top finishers in each category at the state competition are eligible to compete at the SkillsUSA National Competition, to be held June 1-5, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.

This year, the Harrold Campus SkillsUSA Chapter was named a Chapter of Distinction. Accepting the award on behalf of the chapter was Mackenzie Spain, Chapter Treasurer and a student in the Culinary Arts program from Unatego CSD. Harrold Campus Culinary Arts teacher Jeanni Romanowski was also recognized as a finalist for the Chapter Advisor of the Year Award. While no students from DCMO BOCES earned medals at last week’s competition, Pierce Haney, a Culinary Arts student from Unatego CSD, served this year as NYS Area II Vice President and joined the rest of the state officers on stage, delivering remarks and helping with the presentations.

SkillsUSA is a national workforce development organization for students, operating in thousands of chapters in schools across the country. Founded in 1965 to help address the ongoing skills gap, SkillsUSA seeks to empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. DCMO BOCES has chapters at both campuses, supported by advisors Jeanni Romanowski, Amanda Larsen, Nanette LaTourette and Jamie Milk. Jennifer Lawrence, Director of Career and Technical Education at DCMO BOCES, serves as the Administrator Trustee of Area II. Nanette LaTourette, Human and Retail Services Teacher at Harrold Campus, also serves as an Advisor Trustee of Area II.

DCMO BOCES is a regional provider of educational services to students and schools and operates school campuses in Sidney Center and Norwich. To find out more about their services and programs, visit www.dcmoboces. com

— Information from DCMO BOCES