Arlington sophomores, from left John O'Brien, Noah Varghese and Dean O'Brien got awards.

Twenty students from Minuteman High School and four adult students from Minuteman Technical Institute received medals in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts state competition on May 7. Three high school students and one adult student will compete in the national SkillsUSA competition in June, which will be held virtually.

More than 370,000 vocational-technical students participate in SkillsUSA competitions nationwide annually. Students demonstrate their knowledge in their career technical area of study along with employability and safety skills. 

Minuteman High School Awards: 

The three Minuteman High School students who are heading to the national competition are Noah Varghese and Dean O’Brien, environmental-science majors, and John O’Brien, biotechnology major. All three are from Arlington; Dean and John are brothers. Their competition was in the natural resources, agriculture, and food category; their project involved collecting and testing water samples in their community.

The following Minuteman High School students also received awards in the SkillsUSA state competition: 

• Arya De Francesco of Lexington, grade 9, design and visual communications major: gold medal in sticker design.
• Ariana Calder of Lancaster, grade 12, design and visual communications major: silver medal in advertising design.
• Maddox Glazer of Concord, Lucas Goodwin of Arlington, and Riley Mitchell of Sudbury, all grade 10 biotechnology majors: silver medal in industrial and engineering technology.
• Shahd Alwaz of Watertown, Alima Salahuddin of Acton, and Camille White of Boxborough, all grade 9 biotechnology majors: silver medal in community service.
• Henry Price or Brookline, grade 12 advanced manufacturing major: silver medal in CNC (Computer Numeric Control) turning specialist.
• Cole Traywick of Acton, grade 10 automotive technology major: silver medal in job skills demonstration.
• Ellie Vail of Arlington, grade 12 advanced manufacturing major: bronze medal in CNC turning specialist.
• Haris Ansari of Stow, Sreeman Lakshmanan of Acton, and Charlie Perry of Woburn, all grade 12 engineering majors: bronze medal in engineering technology.
• Abigail Bayer of Acton, grade 9 environmental science major: bronze medal in exploratory project demonstration.
• Peter Loschen of Winchester and Gabriel Herbertz of Stow, both grade 12 robotics majors: bronze medal in robotics and automation. 

Minuteman Technical Institute Awards:

The following adult students at Minuteman Technical Institute, the adult evening program for Minuteman, received awards in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts states competition for post-secondary institutes.

• John Fitzgerald of Arlington: gold medal in cosmetology, more than 500 hours of experience. Fitzgerald will compete in the national competition in June.
• Rebecca O’Leary of Arlington: gold medal in cosmetology, less than 500 hours of experience.
• Andrew Scordamalgia of Woburn: silver medal in cosmetology, less than 500 hours of experience.
• Anayelis Navarro of Marlborough: bronze medal in residential construction wiring.

During the postsecondary competition, the students received a visit from Kayleen McCabe, host of the DIY Network show Rescue Renovation. McCabe is an advocate for career technical education and regularly meets with students around the country.

This news announcement was published Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Providing the information is Dan O'Brien, who works for Minuteman.