Powell High School Skills USA is once again sending students to the national competition in Atlanta from June 23-28 — this year the trip is marked by many firsts.

Curtis Muecke was Powell’s first student to compete in basic health care skills, a newly created event; he’s now the first state winner and national qualifier for the event. 

Basic health care skills is several events rolled into one, Muecke said. He has to complete a written test, job interview, give a presentation, a series of works, place skills and take vital signs.

At state, Muecke only did half of the event due to schedule issues in the competition, including a seven-and-a-half-hour delay. Muecke was the only student prepared for the job interview portion, which did not take place, he said, but it was nice to know he was well prepared.

But, he said he may be overconfident going into nationals, because the state competition was so different from what he expected.

“I think I’m prepared, but I just don’t know how well I’m going to compare,” Muecke said.

Because it’s a brand new event, he’ll be going in without guidance from past competitors.

He’s not the only one trying something new.

Muecke will be joined by Meisja McCrary and Leeanne Phillips, both first year Skills USA members and first time state qualifiers in their respective events: job interview and prepared speech. 

“I was definitely a little nervous going into it. No one at the school has ever competed in prepared speech either, so I didn’t really know what was going on, but I put a lot of work into writing a speech that I thought was on theme,” Phillips said. “The theme was ‘ignite your potential,’ so I did my best to follow that very broad [prompt] and just practiced a lot. I was really excited to try something new.”

As a new competitor McCrary leaned into adviser Kandi Bennett’s knowledge.

“I went off her advice on how to prepare for this event, and I made sure that my cover letter and my resume was as solid as possible beforehand, and I just kept trying to practice by going through mock interviews and putting my best foot forward during the event,” McCrary said. 

As the two girls prepare for nationals they have been running through mock interviews, with help from Jim Cannon of Powell Valley Healthcare and Christi Greaham of Northwest College as well as other community members, McCrary said. 

The trip has been paid for out of the club’s funds, but they still need to pay it back, Bennett said. Fundraising ideas including an online auction are currently underway. Those interested in supporting the Powell chapter can follow phs_skillsusa24 on Instagram.