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PLAINS TWP. — The guys from Carbon County Career and Technical Center were not only in their first such competition, it was — they had been told — the first time in years the school had participated in the SkillsUSA district contest.

Still, they felt they had as good a chance as any of the other schools entering the “team build,” one of three events held Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center.

“It comes down to what you know,” Dylan Everett, who would handle carpentry during the contest, said as they waited for other teams to arrive

“And how you use it,” Todd Daldos, the mason of the team, added, as if finishing the sentence.

SkillsUSA is, to many career and technical students, akin to a big sports match, Wilkes-Barre Area CTC teacher Bob Bertoni said. It’s a chance to pit the skills students have learned against students from other schools, and winning at the district level garners a crack at a state title.

Wednesday was the second of three rounds of competition for the district teams, which include Lackawanna, Carbon, Susquehanna, Wyoming and Luzerne counties. The competitive options are numerous enough — there are more than 50 events, Bertoni said — for the competition to be held on three separate days in separate locations.

On Wednesday Wilkes-Barre Area CTC hosted three events: masonry, graphic design and the multi-discipline team build, in which members of each team work together to complete a four-part project, one student specializing in each part: Stud a wall corner, hang a sink on it, wire a light above it and build a separate brick wall.

Asked how well they had prepared, the Carbon County crew conceded they had little time to practice, but noted there is an element of surprise anyway: You don’t know the specs for the project until the competition starts.

Judging covers a wide range of criteria: Completing the project in allotted time (about 3 hours), accuracy in meeting specifications, team presentation, clean up and tool return among them.

Bertoni said students at his school, which serves five area school districts, have done well , with 10 of them qualifying for the state championship round.

Freedman Ramirez of Hazleton Area High School applies mortar to a brick while he does masonry work during a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_skillsusa01-1.jpg.optimal.jpgFreedman Ramirez of Hazleton Area High School applies mortar to a brick while he does masonry work during a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

David Schwartz of Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center uses a circular saw to cut a board as classmate David Hunter steadies the board during a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_skillsusa02-1.jpg.optimal.jpgDavid Schwartz of Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center uses a circular saw to cut a board as classmate David Hunter steadies the board during a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Students from several area school districts compete in a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_skillsusa03-1.jpg.optimal.jpgStudents from several area school districts compete in a SkillsUSA competition at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center on Wednesday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish