Day 6: "Family" Dinner and Awards

It has been a tradition to gather on Friday afternoon for a “Family” dinner where the kids place their phones in the center of the table and engage in conversation with each other. What was nice was that this year, nobody had their phones out (except to take a picture of their food). This traditional “Family” dinner is a way for us to connect as a group one last time and to celebrate our accomplishments — no matter the outcome.

After dressing up a bit (in anything nicer than a t-shirt), the kids headed to Amalfi Cucina to enjoy a little Italian cuisine. It was easy to stay within our dinner budget, and the food was delicious!

Then — it was time to return to the hotel to get changed into competition uniforms one last time and return to the arena for the finals. One final time to wear the red blazers as a team. One last mile to walk — or at the very least, on the last planned mile to walk.

Nerves were high, but their spirits rose even higher. It honestly didn’t matter to see if their names made it to the big screen; they had preprepared like champions prior to Atlanta and had earned their way to the “big show.” They did their best on the days of competition. There wasn’t much more they could do but to be proud of their accomplishments and wait.

In life — we all learn to wait. We wait at a red light. We wait for our friends and families to arrive for celebrations. We wait on the phone call to hear we got the job. Practicing patience builds character, and it’s how we handle these moments that count.

Another life lesson — we all learn to not win. Sure — it’s great to see that gold medal, but that first-place position is only reserved for one. Does this mean that all who didn’t reach that distinction are failures? For all of those who tried — who dared to “enter the arena”, perhaps President Theodore Roosevelt states it best:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Their families can be proud of their Lawerence County CTC children who made their mark at the 2022 National SkillsUSA Championships.

And when the waiting was over the results were in. The first competition results we watched was for Health Occupation Portfolio; all eyes were trained on the jumbotron hanging from the arena’s center as our students held a collective breath and then it happened! Cue the screaming and cheering from the Pennsylvania delegation: There was Pennsylvania’s bid to head to the awards stage! Parker was in the top three!! Soon — we saw her approach the podium, not for bronze or gold, but a silver medal shines quite nicely! How incredibly exciting! Of all of those students across the nation who earned their bid to compete at districts, of all of the SkillsUSA members who earned their way to regional and then state competition, and now all of those who competed at Nationals — Parker has earned that silver distinction!

This evening it would only be Parker who saw the stage and a trip to the medalist stage was not to be for the remaining members of Lawrence County CTC’s chapter of SkillsUSA, but we have been told that our Opening and Closing team was “in the game” with a fourth-place finish. Check back within the next few days to hear about our Employment Application Process official results as they haven’t been posted yet. In hindsight, our students worked their hardest. They did well. They have made Pennsylvania proud. They were able to celebrate Parker’s success while reflecting with a positive attitude on their own performance and, despite the daily triple-digit heat wave, on the greatness of the week.

Tomorrow, the plan is to wake up, pack their bags, spend one final day in the fine city of Atlanta, and return home around midnight on Sunday!