When the Powell Skills USA competitors left to compete in the national competition in Atlanta, they left as contenders. When they returned to Powell, among them was one of only two national medal winners in Powell High School history.

Meisja McCrary, who had just finished her first year in Skills USA, took silver in the job interview event.  

McCrary was surprised to take second in the nation, she said, but she had a lot of support. That included Ezekiel, the shoe shiner at the Georgia World Congress Center, who told her to “manifest it.”

McCrary also shouted out to solo competitors the Powell chapter at nationals took under its wing, joking they are now included in the Powell chapter: Logan Wilson of Casper; Jace Erickson of Worland; and Jane Chan of Illinois.

Ahead of nationals, McCrary went over her resume and put it through some intense edits with the help of community members including Jim Cannon, Christi Greaham, Skills USA Adviser Kandi Bennett and Powell High IMC Clerk Karen Skoric. But McCrary can’t pin down the one thing that secured her impressive finish. Interviews are so opinion based, she said, and Bennett advised her that making finals is based on the opinion of the judges.

“[The] experience I’d say I got from Mrs. Bennett’s class really helped me, it gave me that edge I don’t think a lot of other kids had because they didn’t have that experience behind them,” McCrary said.

In the final interview, there was not a point where she felt she was going to place, she said, although competitors do get a heads up so they can make it to the stage. When McCrary took the stage, “it was satisfying.”

“I think just knowing that people that had supported me were able to see that it did go to something I wanted to hopefully make them proud and show them that I did put my best foot forward because of their support, and they guided me into it,” McCrary said.

Curtis Muecke and LeeAnne Phillips also put on a show at nationals, returning with eighth place finishes in basic health care skills and prepared speech.

Phillips, who also finished her first year with Skills USA, is excited about the top 10 placement and ready for next year, she said.

The way she wrote her speech, on topic and applicable to a wide audience, contributed to her success, she said, along with her prior speech and debate experience.

“I was very comfortable talking in front of groups of people so I didn’t really struggle with becoming nervous or anything like that, and also memorizing it, I was able to do that pretty quickly, because I’ve had to do it a lot in the past,” Phillips said. 

There are improvements she can make to her event, but she also wants to try her hand at some other events, specifically a group project.

“I think that I need to, or I could work more, in a team environment, and that I would benefit from that,” Phillips said. “And also, I just like working with others.”

Muecke, who competed in basic health care skills, a brand new event in Wyoming, said he had prepped more than he needed to for his contest.

“I had really overprepared, and so being overprepared helped me be prepared for all that was coming,” Muecke said.

While Wyoming is new to the event, other states have been competing in basic health skills and Muecke was able to pick the brain of a Texas adviser, he said.

He was grateful for her help, he said, and the event was competitive but not in a toxic way.

“I think that really made me feel more comfortable just getting to know everybody, and  that just allowed me to really focus on my competition, because I wasn’t worried about what everybody was thinking,” Muecke said, “because we were all just there to compete, and so we weren’t against each other, really.”

Bennett thanked the school board for providing the three students with $500 each as well as other business and community members who donated.

She is proud of them, she said, as Wyoming selects its national qualifiers only from the state competition, while larger states put their students through regionals and then state to qualify, making it more competitive. 

There were 18,000 students competing at nationals.

“They did amazing to all be in [the] top 10,” Bennett said.