Seniors Gabriella Donaldson, Chloe Galeoti, Jenna Jones and Jacob Gibas were four of the 25 students from East Liverpool High School who traveled to Columbus to compete in the SkillUSA Ohio State Championships. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

EAST LIVERPOOL — A busload of 25 East Liverpool High School students left East Liverpool Monday to go to Columbus to compete in the state competition for SkillsUSA. The students returned to East Liverpool on Wednesday after they showcased their career and technical skills against the best in the state.

Students who represented East Liverpool include juniors Kendra Lacey, Kailynn Kirby and Danni Riggle for promotional bulletin board; Aynsley Galeoti, senior, nursing assistant; Gabrielle Dawson, senior, basic health care skills; Chloe Reed, senior, phlebotomy (state only); Briar Ammon and Donald Ansell, both seniors, additive manufacturing; Samuel Adams, senior, computer programming; Brady Dawson and Elijah Grogg, both juniors, mobile robotics; Sydney Westerman, senior, principles of engineering/technology; Jacob Gibas, senior and Jude Brown, junior, audio radio production; Austin Muskgrove and Gabriella Donaldson, both seniors, digital cinema production; Wyatt Cehrs and Braxtan Carden, both seniors, video production; Jenna Jones, senior, barbering and Chasity Smith, Andrue Reed and Chloe Galeoti, all seniors, crime scene investigation.

“We are incredibly proud of our ELHS CTE students for their outstanding performances at this year’s competition,” Megan Hernandez, communications, said. “Their hard work and dedication truly shined on the state stage.”

East Liverpool’s top finishers included Aynsley Galeoti, third place, Nursing Assistant; Chloe Galeoti, Chasity Smith and Andre Reed, fourth place, Crime Scene Investigation; and Samuel Adams, sixth place, Computer Programming.

East Liverpool Teacher and SkillsUSA advisor Nici Dozier noted that the school has only been participating in the state competition for about three years and in the first year they participated only about six students went, but each year the number of students going has grown.

“It’s amazing to have the students be able to get out of East Liverpool, Ohio and see what a big city like Columbus looks like and then for them to see and compete against other students in their career tech fields is amazing, and for them to see that they are competitive against them,” Dozier said. “They are getting what these big career tech centers are getting.

Dozier said she believes the students being able to compete in this type of event evens the playing field for small town students by showing them they are just as competitive as big city students.

Gabriella, who is secretary for the school’s SkillsUSA competed for digital cinema, said it’s a competitive field and it’s interesting for her to be able to go out and compete at the state level and show her career readiness, her ability to be professional in her field and how prepared she is and what she has learned so far. Gabriella is heading to the Air Force after graduation

Chloe, who competed for criminal justice and public safety, won gold at regionals, and said its exciting to be going to state especially since they didn’t expect to win at regionals.

“We come from a small school, so this is putting our names out there,” Chloe said before leaving for the trip. “It’s really exciting to go compete with my team and I love my career tech so much I hope we win.” Chloe has goals of being a pathologist.

Jenna, whose career tech is cosmetology, competed in barbering. She said she is excited, especially since barbering is something she wants to go into. She plans to double her licensure to do both cosmetology and barbering. She will be mentoring with her brother at his barber shop.

Jacob, who competed in interactive multimedia, has a desire to do the audio side of multimedia for theater, but first he will be heading off to the Navy. Jacob said multimedia is something he has always enjoyed doing. He said he feels heading to state competition is a great opportunity. This is his second time competing at state.

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com