Mount Pleasant High School Electrical Technology students competed in the SkillsUSA District competition on February 9 at Princeton High School. After closing ceremonies on February 17 at Wylie High School, MPHS will send 10 students to the state contest, including one in two different events. Three students will compete individually in the Construction Wiring category while three teams will present their Electrical Exhibits.

In the Construction Wiring competition, MPHS swept the top three spots with senior Jason Barrientos placing 1st, senior Ethan Sanchez placing 2nd, and junior Hector Salazar coming in 3rd. In this event, competitors are required to complete a written test, a practical conduit bending exercise, and hands-on installation of a conduit system, cabling system and wiring devices. And finally, working from drawings and specification sheets, competitors are required to install an electrical system common in most residential and light commercial projects.

In the Electrical Exhibit competition, all three MPHS teams earned blue ribbons and advanced to state. In this category, each exhibit must have a notebook that contains the electrical working drawings, a detailed description of the work done by the students in paragraph form, a write-up with a list of materials, current receipts, any materials donated, steps followed in completing the exhibit, and the students’ resumes. The exhibit must meet the industry standard for creativity and neatness and is judged on the degree of difficulty and must comply with the 2023 National Electrical Code.

The team of Barrientos and Bryan Valle earned a blue ribbon and advanced to state with their Commercial Wiring Exhibit. Barrientos and Valle built a replica of what is

typically found in commercial construction usin metal studs, and wired the structure according to the 2023 National Electrical Code.

The team of Kevin Ayala, Jaime Bello, Alfredo Pineda, and Luis Rojo earned a blue ribbon and advanced to state for their Residential Wiring Exhibit. The team installed a wireless hub, donated by Jason Jetton at Elliott Electric, that allows a homeowner to control lighting and monitor the electrical system from an app on their phone.

The team of Estrella Betancourt and Angel Barboza earned a blue ribbon and advanced to state for their Residential Wiring Exhibit. The lighting installed in their exhibit can change colors, be set to change with beats of music, will come on when it senses motion, and will turn off after a period of inactivity.

In addition, senior Osmar Galindo was named a Voting Delegate for District 5 and will be involved in choosing SkillsUSA Leadership for the 2024-2025 year.

The SkillsUSA Texas Leadership and Skills Conference is in Corpus Christi on April 3-6. The MPHS Electrical program instructor is Tim Davis.

Photos:

MPHS SkillsUSA State advancing competitors (L-R) Osmar Galindo, Alfredo Pineda, Kevin Ayala, Jaime Bello, Luis Rojo, Angel Barboza, Estrella Betancourt, Hector Salazar, Jason Barrientos, Bryan Valle Not Pictured-Ethan Sanchez