Skills USA Competition
Congratulations to all our LIHSA students to participated in Skills USA this month.
Two teams represented LIHSA in the TV/Video production competition on Tuesday, March 21. The task was to produce a 60 second PSA on student mental health. Competitors worked in teams of 2 to create and film a 60 second video from scratch. They had to script, storyboard, film, edit and submit their piece within 1 hour.
First place winners Nicholas Gregory and George Evangelou have secured their spot to compete at the Skills USA State Competition in Syracuse in April. Arielle Ormeno and Arianna Maniscalco placed 3rd!
George Evangelou said that making a PSA for teens suffering from depression with suicidal thoughts after the pandemic was a hard process and he noted how prepared many of the teams looked. “But we had to stick with what we knew to do and were confident in our abilities.” He was grateful to represent LIHSA with his partner and looking forward to doing it again at states.
Nicholas Gregory enjoyed applying all the different techniques he learned in class to the competition assignment.
Arianna Maniscalco shared that she and her partner, Arielle Ormeno had practiced the day before the competition with the assignment Ms. Morgan gave them: a PSA on how LIHSA students prepare for college. She found the competition very fun. Her partner, Arielle agreed and especially liked being in a new place and interviewing people. Though it was stressful to create the PSA with such a short amount of time.
Two LIHSA teams also competed in the Audio production competition, also on March 21. The task was to produce (plan, write, voice, record, edit and render) a 30 second radio production to encourage Long Island teens to do community service. The complete production requires students to demonstrate their ability to plan a project that meets a specific prompt and run time; and to gather, edit and mix a variety of audio sources. Competitors worked in teams of 2 to produce their segment.
Scott Wong and Loughlin Reid-Cleary placed third and have secured their spot to compete at the Skills USA State Competition in Syracuse in April. Jeremiah Rodriguez and Leslie Chavez Pineda also competed.
Loughlin Reid-Cleary felt very prepared for the event. He said that they had been practicing creating PSAs for the last couple of weeks, gradually cutting the time allowed for the assignment. He felt it was a stressful and competitive environment, but a professional one. “It feels good to be there for someone who wants to be a professional.”
His partner, Scott Wong, agreed he was well versed in the skills needed. “My takeaway is to strive for perfection and leave with no regrets. Now it’s on to States!”
