Charlo reps Montana

KANSAS CITY - Over 5,600 people, representing all 50 states as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, competed at the SkillsUSA National Championship last week. The championship, which took place in Kansas City, Mo., is a week-long event.

Eight students from Charlo High School, who won their state tournament, represented Montana. Houston, Danny and Dawn Blevins along with Stephanie Maughan, Joel Lewis, Colton Andrews and Dillon and Stephen Delaney made up the Charlo team.

There are two main events at the championship: Quiz Bowl and the Chapter Display.

Each team at Nationals had a state-winning chapter display, which they brought with them to Kansas City for the championship.

Stephanie Maughan, who graduated from Charlo High School this spring, competed with the Charlo team. She said the students from Charlo started working on their chapter display in February, which they titled "Champions at Work: Connecting the Opportunities." Their display involved many different skills such as woodworking, welding, auto body repair and airbrushing.

"The chapter display took a lot of time to make," she said.

Of the eight students from Charlo, all helped build their chapter display, but only three were responsible for presenting it to the judges. The remaining five students spent their time at nationals competing in the Quiz Bowl, which takes place at the event.

All competitors in the Quiz Bowl take a ranking test before the actual competition begins. Once everyone has been tested, they are split up into competing groups based on varying levels of difficulty. Math, current events and parliamentary procedure are just some of the subjects students are questioned on.

“If you know the answer, you buzz in,” Maughan said.

The Montana team did not place in either category, but they worked hard and enjoyed themselves.

“It teaches you a lot and I had a lot of fun because I got to go to Kansas City and you meet a lot of people,” Maughan said.