Six Kentucky students placed in the top 10 in a national technical skills competition, earning themselves thousands of scholarship dollars, the state education department announced Thursday.More than 100 of Kentucky students with skills in drafting, metalworking, masonry and culinary arts last month joined nearly 7,000 others from across the U.S. to compete for top honors at the annual Skills USA Competition in Kansas City.It’s still too early to put an exact dollar amount on the scholarships the students received—but it will be substantial, said Larry Johnson, the director of Kentucky’s Skills USA program. “It shows one thing more than anything, that all of these students have potential and their skills offer them the opportunity to excel,” he said.Some of the students have gotten job offers because of the competition. Johnson said the environment of the Skills USA competition presents a rare atmosphere for employers seeking qualified workers.“Where else can a employer sit and observe a potential employee doing what they need to do for the company,” Johnson said.The competition will be in Louisville in April 2015 and is set to be the second largest student convention in the city, behind the annual national FFA convention, Johnson said. The two-day competition had a $16.5-million economic impact on Kansas City, according to information from Skills USA, according to the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association.You can find a list of the winners here.
