KANSAS CITY, MO. — Six winners of the residential plumbing contest of the SkillsUSA Championships in plumbing were announced June 23 during an awards session of the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference here. The contest was organized and co-sponsored by the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors - National Association.
Working against the clock and one another, plumbing contestants roughed-in hot and cold water lines with copper to a water heater and the sanitary drainage waste and vent lines with cast iron and PVC plastic for a water closet, a lavatory, a washer box and a floor drain. Water pipes of completed projects were pressure tested. Professional plumbers and pipefitters judged the contestants on the basis of accuracy, workmanship, proper selection and use of tools, and supplies and proper safety practices.
All winners received medallions and tools of their trade and/or scholarships to further their careers and education. The plumbing contest winners in High School (Secondary) are:
First: James Banach, Oberlin, Ohio;
Second: David Gralinski, Northampton, Mass.;
Third: Ryan Dockery, Cleveland, Ga.
For Post-secondary, the winners are:
First: Evan Eppolite, Medford, N.J.;
Second: Elisio Dawkins, Bradenton, Fla.;
Third: Kirk Lang, Beloit, Kan. SkillsUSA is a national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. It sponsors the SkillsUSA Championships annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations.
All the contests are planned by technical committees made up of representatives of labor and management and are designed to test the skills needed for a successful entry-level performance in given occupational fields. Safety practices and procedures — an area of great concern to labor and management alike — are judged and graded and constitute a portion of a contestant's score.
The members of the national technical committee for the plumbing contest include Co-Chair Robert Hahn, Somerset County Vocational-Technical Schools, New Jersey; Co-Chair Jim Steinle, Atomic Plumbing and Drain Cleaning, Virginia; Laurie Crigler, L&D Associates, Virginia; Paul D'Agostino, Anthony Plumbing-Heating-Cooling, Kansas; Andy Davis, Rubbermaid --Lenox Saw, Florida; Merry Beth Hall, PHCC-National Association, Virginia; Frank Maddalon, F.R. Maddalon Plumbing and Heating, New Jersey; Scott Pfeffer, Canton Plumbing & Heating, Massachusetts; Dale Powell, Copper Development Association, Pennsylvania; Jonathan Sargeant, Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute, Tennessee; Mike Stack, Stack Plumbing, Washington; Jo Wagner, CTO Inc., Texas; and James Walls, Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute, Texas.
The national education committee assists the national technical committee. Members include Kenneth Anderson, Virginia Beach Technical Center, Virginia; Carolyn Long, Coffee County Board of Education, Tennessee; Sammie Long, Tennessee; and, Steve Potts, Jordan Vocational High School, Georgia.
Organizations supporting the contest include: Bennette Design Group; Bradford White Corp.; Carhartt Inc.; Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute; Charlotte Pipe & Foundry Co.; Copper Development Association; Cooper B- Line; Delta Faucet Co.; DeWalt Industrial Tool Co.; Irwin Industrial Tools; Lenox; Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp.; Oatey; Ridge Tool Co.; Sioux Chief Manufacturing Co.; and Tyler Pipe.
PHCC also will sponsor the International PHCC Plumbing Apprenticeship Contest Sept. 28 at Network '06 in Chicago. For more information on the contest, call 800/533-7694, or visit www.phccweb.org
For the full list of SkillsUSA winners, go to www.skillsusa-register.org/reports/medialists.aspx