SkillsUSA March 2024

On March 26, 2024, 18 LIHSA students from 3D Animation, Audio Production, Fine Arts, Production Managerial Arts, and Multimedia TV& Film represented LIHSA at the Regional SkillsUSA Contest at Suffolk Community College.

Zachary Podair, 11th grader from Smithtown, competed in Audio Production with Will Irwin, 12th grader from Levittown. The pair worked together on a PSA to warn people about the dangers of skin cancer. Zachary wrote the scripts and recorded the vocals while Will created original music on their equipment. The process went smoothly and they proved themselves to be a great team; the 30 second PSA earned Zachary and Will 2nd place overall in Audio Production.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zachary said of his first SkillsUSA Competition. “It was very educational. I feel like I learned a lot of helpful skills. Writing a script quickly and editing and recording quickly is helpful for college and in the field I want to when I graduate. I want to work in Audio production.”

From the Production Managerial Arts Program, Aiden Berrios, 11th grader from Long Beach, and Matteo Berry, 11th grader from Mineola, competed in Job Demo Open. Aiden shared that Skills was “a fun experience. It was definitely worth the experience to understanding the difference in work forces and ways that things are built up.” The duo demonstrated how to how to fix, aim, and operate lights in a theatre. In their 6-minute presentation, they showed the judges the importance of lighting and how it can bring out different themes and elements in theatre.

Matteo said it was “Definitely an amazing experience. I like SkillsUSA a lot. I liked meeting people from all over Long Island, learning new things from other people while representing LIHSA, and explaining what I do at BOCEs and showing what I can do best.

Chamille Weir, 11th grader from Freeport, joined Seniors from Massapequa, Abigail Colfer and Addison Moore to compete in the Promotional Bulletin Boards contest. The theme was “No Limits” and they created a bulletin board explaining how theatre is created from script to opening night. They worked together to present a 7-minute speech explaining the process and how it was represented on their board. When asked about the best part of the SkillsUSA Competition, Camille said, “Hanging out with everyone and seeing everyone at LIHSA compete in all the different skills competitions.”

Janice Lee, Junior from Syosset, submitted a pin design that won 1st place. The pin was printed and given to everyone who attended the Long Island competition. “It was LIHSA’s first time submitting an entry for that contest and we are so proud of Janice,” LIHSA’s Assistant Principal Lindsay Rogan said. “Walking into the lunch reception and seeing over 500 people receive Janice’s pin was a really beautiful moment for Janice and our Visual Arts program.”

“It was a very interesting experience. It was cool to see people from other schools and districts competing,” Janice said of her day at SkillsUSA. Having submitted the pin design earlier, Janice and Nicole Zawjowski, 11th grader from Bethpage, competed in Logo Design & Business Stationary. Although Nicole said that it was stressful to work in front of the judges, both students represented LIHSA with creativity and grace.

Jude Bertino, 12th grader from Bethpage and Jeremiah Rodriquez, 12th grader from Westbury, placed 1st in Audio Production. Jeremiah competed last year but it was Jude’s first time at the competitive event. Although they ran short on time, Jude shared that “it was fun. It’s great seeing people get recognition about something they care about.” When asked about the process of creating a PSA in 60-minutes, Jude bragged about his partner. “Jeremiah knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s a very capable producer and engineer. He’s also a great hype man. He can do a good job of boosting your confidence.”

LIHSA’s 3D Animation program was represented by James Creeden, 11th grader from Hicksville, Jonathan Diaz-Palacios, 11th grader from East Meadow, and Thomas Eisenberg, 12th grader from Levittown. James competed in Job Demo and showed how to draw and color frames in Flipbook.

Jonathan completed in Job Demo and used photoshop to demonstrate how to do shading and light in photoshop.

Congratulations to all of our SKILLS USA Competitors and best of luck to the students moving on to complete at SkillsUSA State Competition over Spring Break! (Scroll to see more photos)

3D Animation Competitors

James Creedan

Jonathan Diaz Palacios

Thomas Eisenberg

Audio Production

Jude Bertino

Will Irwin

Zachary Podair

Jeremiah Rodriquez

Production Managerial Arts

Adian Berrios

Matteo Berry