Downey Unified students brought home 47 medals -- including 28 gold medals -- at a SkillsUSA competition held in San Diego over spring break. 

Bringing together the top SkillsUSA students from across California to compete in areas of technical and soft skills, Downey Unified was represented by nearly 300 high school, middle school and adult school students.
 
“We are proud to announce that 28 of our students will be moving on to the National Championship Competition that will be occurring this summer in Louisville,” said Phil Davis, Downey Unified’s CTE and STEM Director. “This final outcome is a true testament to the hard work and focus that our teachers and students put in throughout the entire year.”
 
Included with the 28 students who received gold medals, 11 received silver and eight earned bronze medals in a variety of hands-on and job-related competitions; making a grand total of 47 medal recipients combined from the competing Downey Unified students.

Downey Unified’s gold medal recipients will be traveling in June to Louisville, Ky., to represent the state of California in the following areas of competition: Quiz Bowl, Esthetics, Career Pathway Showcase-Health Services, Masonry, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, CNC Milling, Career Pathway-Services Business and Employment Application Process.
 

Victoria Real and Xavier Valencia are the third set of SkillsUSA students from Downey Unified to be elected as SkillsUSA student delegates representing the state of California. Real will be stepping down as President and serving as a National Delegate and Valencia will be acting as a State Officer for this year’s SkillsUSA student delegate board.

On April 27, Downey High School held its annual SkillsUSA Banquet following the return of their students from San Diego.  This banquet fell in succession with Warren High School’s SkillsUSA Banquet.

Held at the Rio Hondo Event Center, this evening concluded with the 2017 SkillsUSA Student of the Year awards being presented to two students for embodying an exemplar competitor within the SkillsUSA realm at DHS. Currently a senior, DHS’ Valerie Cortez was one of the students presented with this prestigious award.

Competing at the state level the last two years, Cortez attends Cerritos College in the early mornings and will graduate from in June with her high school diploma.  Additionally, already attaining 22 transferable University credits from Cerritos College, she will be attending Seattle University beginning her sophomore year. 
 
Nicolas Acosta joined Cortez as being selected as one of the 2017 SkillsUSA Student of the Year award recipients. Acosta has been competing in SkillsUSA since his freshman year and has competed in the National SkillsUSA Championships in Mobile Robotics and Career Pathway: Government and Community Service.

He will be attending college in San Diego in the fall.
 
Currently with over 15,000 school chapters, Downey Unified is one of the largest chapters involved in SkillsUSA, with one or more students qualifying for Nationals every year since 2009. Last year resulted in 500 students competing in the Regional Championships, 300 qualifying for the State Championships, 36 making it to Nationals and ultimately culminating with two finishing as National Champions.