Willow Canyon students attend leadership training

Six students from Willow Canyon High School traveled to Washington, D.C. for the SkillsUSA Washington Leadership Training Institute.  The Wildcats joined more than 500 students to learn about leadership and talk to Congress about the benefits of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and show how the SkillsUSA journeys have prepared them to be college- and career-ready.

Arianna Peterson, Malachi Delgado, Brandon Smithey, Ekemini MbekAnako, Jaxon Magee and Zydes Diggs were chosen to attend the event as part of the Willow Canyon High School SkillsUSA Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO). Students spent the beginning part of the week preparing for their congressional visit, learning leadership skills, and visiting museums. 

The four-day conference, held annually by SkillsUSA, provides students an opportunity to grow in their professionalism, communication, and leadership skills, which they applied during their legislative visits. The group spoke with Representative Paul Gosar and shared how their CTE Programs transformed their high school experience. Rep. Gosar was very generous with his time and encouraged the students to get involved in local politics and find answers to national issues. 

As part of the event, students were given the opportunity to earn their National Statesman Award. The Statesman is a SkillsUSA honor given to students who demonstrate SkillsUSA knowledge and civic awareness, along with an understanding of the SkillsUSA framework and how to articulate their personal experiences in CTE. All six Willow students competed and earned this recognition. 

“Students were thankful for the amazing opportunity to develop their communication and leadership skills while helping to encourage funding for their programs, Alyson Titkemeyer, Willow Canyon teacher and CTE advisor. 

Willow Canyon High School currently offers CTE Television Production, CTE Graphic Design and CTE Coding classes. Students can also get involved with SkillsUSA, a CTSO that helps develop students leadership and career and technical experience.