PARIS — Three hundred and fifty students gathered at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Jan. 21 to compete in the Ninth Annual Tech Challenge, a showcase of Oxford Hills Technical School’s vocational programs.
“Shawn Lambert, the previous OHTS Director, began Tech Challenge in the 2011-12 school year,” said OHTS Director Paul Bickford. “It was launched as a way to showcase student work at OHTS and to promote Career and Technical Education.”
The Tech Challenge is organized and presented by the students themselves, according to Bickford.
“The school’s Marketing program is in charge of t-shirts – number, size, and color for each program,” said Bickford. Our Graphic Design program gathers the necessary information and then creates our programs and signage. Our Hospitality and Tourism students host the event.”
More than 50 judges review and score the individual competitions. Many of them serve on OHTS’s Program Advisory Committees. OHTS alumni, educators and volunteers from different professional groups also participate in judging at the Tech Challenge.
Rob Benica, Advanced Communications instructor at OHTS, said that the Tech Challenge provides many educational benefits for competing students, the most important being introduction to work pressures of real world situations.
“These competitions ask students to complete a real world task, within a strict time frame against their peers and without the help of instructors,” said Benica. “That pressure creates opportunities for students to overcome stress, creatively solve problems and prove to themselves what they know and are capable of – all while showcasing their skills for business professionals and their families. That experience is virtually impossible to replicate in the classroom.”
Kelly Whittemore, a sophomore in Oxford Hills Technical School’s Diversified Occupations program, shows off the bike she purchased, restored and custom-painted. Whittemore’s bike placed first in the Bike Repair Challenge. She also won third place in the Woodburning Illustration Challenge. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Sophomore Kelly Whittemore of Oxford competed in two Diversified Occupations Challenges and was recognized in both, winning Gold/first for her bicycle restoration/painting and Bronze/third for her wood burning illustration.
“I restored my own bike, that I bought used from a friend,” Kelly said of her project, which she calls Flourish Mozart. “When I painted the bike there a reaction to the paint so I had to work to fix the imperfections and made it part of the design.”
Whittemore said the bike was originally black and white. She repainted it entirely in coordinated shades of green. The project took her three to four weeks to complete.
Students from SAD 17 and the surrounding towns of Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner and Waterford attend OHTS classes. The school offers three-year programs in nineteen different vocational and business fields. More information about OHTS programs can be found on its website: www.ohts.net.
OHTS Tech Challenge 2020 Results
Ad Com: Best film
Gold: Payton Sherbinski; Logan Keane; Danesia McKissick; Collin Devlin
Silver: Adam Angevine; Joe Arnold; Michael Hebert; Easton Masselli
Bronze: Sam Lisowski; Colton Kimball; Hayden Riley; Stephen Allen
Auto Collision: Repair technology
Gold: Kobe Bernard
Silver: Keegan Jack
Bronze: Sam Billings
Auto Collision: Welding
Gold: Kobe Bernard
Silver: (tie) Will Merrow, Zac Boutot, Keegan Jack
Bronze: Sam Billings
Auto Technology: Auto tech 1
Gold: Ian Shot
Silver: Jackson Leduc
Bronze: Zayne Bennett
Auto Technology: Auto tech 2 & 3
Gold: Kyle Richardson
Silver: Zander Bean
Bronze: Scot Tibbetts
Building Construction Technologies: Mock-up shed construction
Gold: Noah Forget
Silver: Jeffery Quick
Bronze: Abby Wood
Business Studies
Gold: Krystal Kennison
Silver: Danielle Bean
IT: PC repair
Gold: Everett Baker & Brooke Hamm
Silver: Matt Miller, Dan Dresser
Bronze: Gina Buchko, Joey Beaudet
IT: Networking
Gold: Brian Williams
Silver: Xenon Chase
Bronze: James Gosnell
Culinary Arts: Soup
Gold: Robert Alexander
Silver: Jameson Abel
Bronze: Justin Robichaud
Culinary Arts: Appetizer
Gold: Jream Tripp
Silver: Krysten Morse
Bronze: Cody Pease
Culinary Arts: Dessert
Gold: River Thurston
Silver: Steven Conklin
Bronze: Kaitlyn McKinnon
Diversified Occupations: Cookie bake-off
Gold: Chloe Darling
Silver: Rachel Horan
Bronze: Emily Westberry
Diversified Occupations: Woodburning illustration
Gold: Naomi Lefebvre
Silver: Riley Smith
Bronze: Kelly Whittemore
Diversified Occupations: Bicycle restoration/paint
Gold: Kelly Whittemore
Silver: Lucas Hunt
Bronze: Jacoby Davis
Early Childhood Education: Picture book writing/illustration
Gold: Sybil Biter
Silver: Maddie Adams
Bronze: Gwen Cyr
Engineering and Architectural Design: Cube house design
Gold: Owen Orlando
Silver: Andrew Merrill
Bronze: (tie) Matt Doucette / Paul Rudman
Engineering and Architectural Design II: Alien artifact and pedestrian park projects
Gold: Bram Dustin
Silver: Atticus Soehren
Bronze: Cassidy MacIssac
Fashion Design: Headband/hat design (fancy)
Gold: Amber Lynch
Fashion Design: Headband/hat design (fun)
Gold: Brianna Spears
Forestry: Chainsaw safety & assembly, excavator, CDL contest, chainsaw use
Gold: Tyler Delano, Brodi Rice
Silver: Peter Brown, Victoria Cyr, Myles Hosford, Jake Domegan
Bronze: Ryan Corson
Graphic Design: Create logo and advertising
Gold: Emily Landsberg
Silver: Joey Sprague
Bronze: Culliandra Nero
Graphic Design: Photography (capture and edit digital images into a themed series)
Gold: Donovan Sanborn
Silver: Alden Timm
Bronze: Audrey Bickford
Graphic Design: T-shirt design
Gold: Culiandra Nero
Silver: Emily Landsberg
Bronze: Peter Packolski
Graphic Design: Pin design
Gold: Emily Landsbert
Silver: Peter Pacholski
Bronze: Joey Sprague
Law Enforcement: Team challenges
Gold: Frankie Wells, Jacob Paar, Caleb Johnson, Teanna Messner, Broc Larocque, Isaiah Wright, Reese Starbird
Silver: Josh Cabral, Zach Herbert, Logan Randall, Breanna Napier, Caleb Evans, Brian Stone, Alivia Weikel, Peter Tavares
Bronze: Kenny Hillgross, Brady Scelzo, Dean Sinkler, Ally Friend, Anthony Carter, Mike O’Neil
Marketing: Team quiz bowl & display
Gold: Lexi Mack, Cole Timberlake, Cameron Keith, Colby Dillingham
Silver: Ethan Cutler, Madison Long, Chloe Estes, Ayden Violette, Elizabeth Emrich
Bronze: Madison Akers, Mario DeVivo, Ashley Campbell, John Hatcher, Kaitlyn Albert
Marketing: Individual quiz bowl
Gold: Lexi Mack
Silver: Mikaelah Bailey
Bronze: Ashley Campbell
Plumbing: Pipe frame projects
Gold: Zach Fillebrown
Silver: Ben Mondor
Bronze: Brandon Harris
Pre-Engineering: Simulation
Gold: Casey Raymond
Silver: Ollie Kyllonen
Pre-Engineering: Design
Gold: Brandon Libby
Silver: Thomasina Lester
Bronze: Blaine Cyr
Send questions/comments to the editors.
