Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters Local 276 & Local 277 Judges the SkillsUSA, New York State Leadership Conference and Skills Championship

Syracuse, NY, August 3, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​The winners of the four carpentry events sponsored by SkillsUSA, NYS Leadership Conference and Skills Championship events were selected by the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters’ Local 276 & 277.

The Locals’ members and apprentices served as judges for the contest held April 28 - 29 at the New York state Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

"We are grateful to The Northeast Carpenters Apprenticeship Fund and all the sponsors who make the contests a successful event each year, including Contest, Carpenter's Assistant Contest, Cabinetmaking Contest, Carpenters Locals 276 and 277, Millwrights Local 1163, Liftech Companies and Raby's Lumber."

George Baldwin, Training Coordinator

The USA NYS Leadership Conference and Skills Championship is held every year among all the vocational educational centers across New York. The first place winners at this year’s competition for Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Teamwork will have joined other state winners at the national championships in Louisville, Kentucky, June 22 to 24.

The Top three finishers for the carpenter's contest are:

1st Place Nick Most – Broome Tioga BOCES

2nd Place Jeremy Eccleston – Coopers Education Center

3rd Place Irving Skowfie – Capital Region Career & Education – Schoharie

The Top three finishers for the cabinet makers are:

1st Place Garrett Goodwin – Onondaga Cayuga BOCES

2nd Place Jacob Kontos – Cataraugus BOCES

3rd Place Caled Yelle – CV Tech Mineville

The Top three finishers for carpenter’s assistants are:

1st Place Ian Richards – Eastern Suffolk BOCES – Islip Career Center

2nd Place Alexander Carrasso – Gary D. Bixhorn Technical Center

3rd Place Zachery Condon – F. Donald Myers Educational Center

The Top Three Finishers for the teamwork’s competition are

1st Place Broome Tioga BOCES

2nd Place Orleans Career & Technical Education Center

3rd Place Eastern Monroe Career Center

As the premiere skilled trade organization representing carpenters in New Jersey and New York state, the council has been judging and coordinating the Skills USA Competition for four major building trade events for more than 15 years. The Carpenters are the coordinators for the Carpenters, Carpenters Assistants, Cabinetmaking and Teamwork’s contests.

This year, the Carpenters contest had 27 student competitors participate in building a wood framing project on a 4’x6’ platform. They had to read a blueprint, frame the walls and door opening and build a gable roof structure with overhang according to the blueprint and specifications provided. The council was involved in the planning, organizing and overseeing of all the major building trade events.

The carpenter’s Assistant Program was developed years ago to give young students with learning disabilities an opportunity to participate in a carpenter event and gain valuable trade skills and life skills working together as a team.

The carpenter’s assistants gain pride, confidence, self-worth, and career building skills working together with carpenter apprentices building a project for a local not-for-profit agency each year.

The high school students work in tandem with local apprentices, and this year 11 participants worked to build 25 Adirondack chairs for the Oswego County ARC, which is dedicated to provides advocacy and services to people with disabilities.

The primary objective of this program is to provide opportunities for these kids to feel good about themselves and to inspire a sense of confidence. Many of the kids end up participating in the skills USA competition the following year. At this year’s event, more than 50 union carpenters and apprentices worked with the physically challenged adults representing the Oswego County ARC to build Adirondack chairs that will be raffled off as a fundraiser for ARC.

Discussing the motivation for their work, training coordinator George Baldwin said, “These kids were young students in high school. They’re 16, 17 and 18 years old. They’ve never been away from home. They come from troubled homes, single-parent homes. They’ve never been complimented. It’s amazing to see them light up when you tell them, ‘What a nice job you’re doing!’ That’s what I tell my apprentices. ‘Make sure you get to know the kid. Make it a good experience for the kid.

“We are grateful to The Northeast Carpenters Apprenticeship Fund and all the sponsors who make the contests a successful event each year, including Contest, Carpenter’s Assistant Contest, Cabinetmaking Contest, Carpenters Locals 276 and 277, Millwrights Local 1163, Liftech Companies and Raby’s Lumber.”

Source: Carpenter Contractor Trust