More than 600 high school students from 39 Washington State school districts will join Bates instructors and more than 550 advisors and judges, as the students demonstrate their technical skills in 28 categories during the SkillsUSA State Championships in Tacoma on Saturday, March 26. Competitions will take place at all three campuses of Bates Technical College beginning at 7:30 a.m., and continuing until tests and finished products are due in the scoring rooms by 2:30 p.m. It’s challenging, it’s lots of pressure, but it’s also fulfilling and fun.

This championship will be the final competitions for students who have already won local and regional contests throughout the state. Finalists will be named at the awards banquet at the Tacoma Sheraton on Saturday evening, with the winners moving on to the national championships in Kansas City, MO in June.

From as far away as Spokane and Sunnyside and as near as Steilacoom and Tacoma, students will compete individually in commercial baking, internetworking or nurse assisting for example. They may diagnose the engine of a car, build a kitchen cabinet, troubleshoot a computer’s hard drive, design a Web site, or fight a fire. Or they may team up to create an evening news broadcast or to produce a television program.

This is Bates’ second consecutive year to host the championships. “The commitment from our instructors is highly commendable,” says John Grant, Manager of High School Relations at Bates. “This year we have 28 instructors involved in all aspects of the event — developing the competencies, creating the tests, finding qualified judges, and soliciting rewards for the top competitors.”