Delgado Automotive Students Win Medals At Statewide ‘Workforce Olympics’

05/03/2017

Biz New Orleans Site Staff,

Delgado Motor Vehicle Technology students pictured at the Louisiana SkillsUSA awards ceremony in Shreveport, LA, last month, from left: Matthew Lugo, Andrew Gassen, Ross Robichaux (bronze medalist), Jeff Fontenot (gold medalist), Hunter Johnson, and Scott Adolph, Delgado Motor Vehicle Technology Instructor Chris McDonald

NEW ORLEANS —Jeff Fontenot, a Motor Vehicle Technology student at Delgado Community College, won the gold medal in Automotive Service Technology at the Louisiana SkillsUSA competition that took place from April 5-7, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Another Delgado Motor Vehicle Technology student, Ross Robichaux, won the bronze medal at the statewide competition.

Fontenot is now eligible to represent Delgado at the national SkillsUSA competition in Louisville, Kentucky, this summer.

Each year, technical and community college students from across the state gather at Louisiana SkillsUSA to compete in two dozen skill areas, including allied health, automotive service technology, welding, collision repair technology, advertising, practical nursing and other in-demand career fields.

The event is considered a “Workforce Olympics” of career and technical education in Louisiana. During the competitions, students matched their abilities against their peers in various contests designed and judged by experts from local industries. The championships are one of the state’s largest gatherings of business, industry and education.

SkillsUSA, a national organization in all 50 states, has the active support of more than 1,100 corporations, trade associations and labor unions at the national level. More than 10.5 million people have been annual members of SkillsUSA since its founding as The Vocational Industrial Clubs of America in 1965.