(Back row: Humza Ansari, Tyler Armendaris, Maddie Gebremichael. Middle row: Niki Gordon, Ardian Peach, Hamza Ansari, Claudia Oviedo, Front Row: Alex Choi)

Seven NOVA Students earned seven medallions at the SkillsUSA Virginia State Leadership Conference on April 8-9 in Virginia Beach!

They competed in four competitions: Cybersecurity, Computer Programming, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Job Skills Demonstration.

Cybersecurity Team A (Ardian Peach and Humza Ansari) earned gold, while Cybersecurity Team B (Tyler Armendaris and Hamza Abdo) earned silver.

During competitions students had to demonstrate their technical skill knowledge around topics like Enterprise Router Security, Managing Switch Security and Troubleshooting, as well as completed a written test. Alex Choi earned gold in Computer Programming, showcasing his technical abilities in programming related to Java and C++ as well as completing a written test.

Claudia Oviedo earned gold in Extemporaneous Speaking where she gave a speech after only having 5 minutes to prepare on that topic. And, Maddie Gebremichael earned gold in Job Skill Demonstration A where she gave a speech and taught the judges how to build a suspension bridge and the engineering behind it.  These gold medalists will be advancing to compete at the National Leadership and Skill Conference in June in Atlanta.

During the conference Opening Session, NOVA advisor Niki Gordon was recognized for being the Post-Secondary Representative to the SkillsUSA Virginia Foundation Board of Directors.

Congratulations, all!

#BoldlyNOVA #WeDoSTEM #SkillsUSA #SkillsUSAVA