SkillsUSA Brings 1,000s to KC June 21-23 - MCC Intends to say "Hello"

The SkillsUSA Championship showcases the best career and technical students in the nation.  Students compete against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like electronics, computer-aided drafting, crime scene investigation, medical assisting, photography, robotics and culinary arts.


This multi-million dollar event requires a space larger than 16 football fields.  Last year, there were more than 5,600 contestants in 96 separate events.  This year, more than 15,000 students, parents, teachers, judges and industry representatives will attend SkillsUSA Championship between June 21 and 23.  This national competition creates an economic impact of around $15 million for the Kansas City area, according to Kansas City Business Journal.

While Bartle hall is the main location for competition, CNC Milling, CNC Turning, and Precicsion Machining Technology contests will be held in MCC-BTC's 8,800 sq. ft. Precision Machining lab.

MCC plans to welcome every single guest!  Or, at least parade amongst them wearing MCC t-shirts.

Three BTC Teams Compete in Tiger Net Challenge

From Left: Micheal Richard, Carl Schmitt, Tim Kirk, Maurice Burk, and Francine Wild compete as Team Highlander in the 2011 Tiger Net Challenge Wednesday, April 27 at MCC-Business & Technology.  Twenty seven teams from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconson, as well as two teams from China, compete online in three areas: Quiz Bowl, Troubleshooting, and Router Wars.  MCC-BTC has three teams from the Cisco Networking Academy in this year's competition with Team Highlander, Team America, and Team Rag Tag.  More information about the Tiger Net Challenge is found here.

Team Highlander during Quiz Bowl section of Tiger Net Challenge.

MCC-BTC Students Compete at SkillsUSA State Contest Today

From left, Michael Whited and George Price will compete in state SkillsUSA contest at Linn State Technical College Thursday, March 31.  Michael is competing in Prepared Speech and George is competing in Technical Computer Applications.  Kate Douglas and Ed McCarty, Cisco Faculty, will be judging the Internetworking Contest. 

Two MCC-BTC students will represent Missouri in national competition

Aaron Troester and Dewitt Dixon, students at MCC-Business & Technology in the Cisco Networking Academy, are the Missouri champions in Cisco's 2010 NetRiders Skills Challenge. They will represent the state in the final round, a 60 minute online theoretical exam and 90 minute Cisco Packet Tracer activity and exam on Dec. 8. The top ten teams will be awarded prizes.

NetRiders is an interactive IT/Networking skills competition that will take place in multiple stages in the United States and Canada. The goal is to create a fun, educational challenge for students to compete with their peers across their state, the U.S., and Canada, in a real-time environment to showcase their IT/Networking skills. In addition, NetRiders helps to identify top talent for potential employment opportunities in the growing ICT and networking field.

Amazing Work by Cisco Faculty

MCC instructors Kate Douglas and Ed McCarty were key players at SkillsUSA last month. They are both on the five-member national technical committee for internetworking, which plans and manages the contest. The online and hands-on competitions are designed to test the skills needed for successful entry-level performance in specific occupations. The Internetworking contest is based on the most current CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) standards.

McCarty is the Cisco Networking Academy coordinator at MCC-Business & Technology campus, and Douglas was hired full-time at MCC-BTC this year. She previously taught in the Cisco Academy at Herndon Career Center. She’s very proud of one of her Herndon grads, Stephen VanHorn, who took 3^rd in the national contest last month!