“Remember, this is supposed to be fun,” Carol Walsh reassured her students as she handed out the Advertising Design Project instructions. “And manage your time.” Walsh is TCTC's Graphic Design and Communications instructor.

The two-hour competition was two-fold: create a logo using the words “Maine Kids Recycle!” and then design a full page ad using the logo. Angela Hafenecker took the gold, Branin Blodgett the silver and bronze went to Kaitlyn Keene.

“We've staged a mysterious crime scene,” Investigator Jamie Kane of the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Office said with a grin. “Evidence of drugs, alcohol, blood and no body.”

Kane sat with two other law enforcement officers just outside the yellow-taped off “Do Not Enter” area, observing how each Criminal Justice student first secured the scene, then prepared their equipment for the investigation and finally judged their conclusions. Despite her fears, Vanessa Cousins won the gold medal for the Crime Scene Investigation competition, with McKedra Clements taking the silver and Scott Moulton the bronze.

The Criminal Justice program, led by instructor Steven Spaulding, included a scenario which involved terrorism and criminal threatening. In this competition, the students had to decide what, if any, aspect of public safety was affected and what the law enforcers' limits are. Kady Gould won the gold, Cheyenne Bioski the silver and Scott Loureiro the bronze.

Over in the Building Trades competition, five students were each beginning the framing of their 4-foot by 8-foot slant roof shed. “We evaluated the project on accuracy of cuts and measurements and if they followed directions,” said instructor John Guay over the hammering. Tyler Young won the gold, Travis LeCourt the silver and Matthew Cole took the bronze medal.

“The sheds can be used as a garden shed or chicken coop and they'll be for sale at the end of February,” added assistant instructor Mark LeVasseur. The residential wood frame construction class is currently building a private snowmobile museum and recently renovated the Wassookeag Snowmobile Clubhouse in Dexter.

“We've got five stations set up,” said computer systems repair instructor Jennifer MacKenzie about her program's competition. “Each involves dealing with a customer to identify the problem and then solving it.” Solutions included making a networking cable from scratch, installing and uninstalling a video card driver, hooking up two hard drives with two different standards and collecting information on the computer's network connectivity. Michael Clark and Andrew Moontri tied for the gold medal, Marcus McIntyre won the silver and Aaron Pomerleau took home the bronze.

In Automotive Technology, instructor Larry Pelletier was beaming with pride as he watched his automotive diagnostic and repair students compete in vehicle alignment, evaluating engine performance with a scanner, identifying tools and fasteners (nuts and bolts) and measuring a disc brake rotor. Motor Supply donated sports bags with welding gloves, safety glasses and ear plugs and NASCAR, Ferrari and Motor Supply items to gold medalist Sheldon Woodard, silver medalist Hunter Dyer and bronze medalist Steve LeClair.

TCTC recently received a donation of a $7,200 on-car brake lathe from Foss Chrysler in Exeter, N.H. This equipment enhances the students’ instruction in brake repair.

The Automotive Technology program also offers low-cost (and limited) mechanical work to the public which provides hands-on experience for the students. Call Pelletier at 924-7670 for an appointment.

“I'm very proud of you,” began culinary arts instructor Chris Whitman when the culinary and baking students finished their 3½- hour competition. “You showed perseverance, recovered from your mistakes and kept going.” In front of Whitman were dozens of cloverleaf yeast rolls and chocolate chip cookies, apple pies, decorated cakes completed by each baker and plates of garnished entrees of chicken with mushroom sauce, seasoned rice and carrots Vichy by each chef.

The contestants were judged on their “clean as you go” work habits, organizational and technical skills along with the product's quality, portioning and appearance.

For the baking divisions, Irene Sowa won the gold, Amber Richards the silver and bronze was awarded to Rebecca Carpenter. Jen Vigue, TCTC's 2006 State Gold Medalist for baking was one of the judges.

In the Culinary division, Sheila Currier won the gold, Shawn Kasprzak the silver and Nathan LaBrecque the bronze.

Commercial Truck Driving competitors crawled in, out and all around TCTC's Freightliner tractor with Mercedes engine for their pre-trip check, one of several skill checks. Instructor Dale Gerald's winners were Scott MacLauchlan with the gold, Hillary Matteson with the silver and Paul Taylor with the bronze.

Metals manufacturing instructor Robert Mosca's Precision Machining competition involved a written test, precision measurement, grind tool bit, line up a four-jaw chuck, pick up thread, line up a vise and vertical mill, tram a head and vertical mill and finally, manufacture a part on the lathe.

Jeremiah Pitts was declared the competition's most precise machinist with Brandon Gagne placing with silver and Dillon Hutchinson with bronze.

Health instructor Beth Weatherbee had her hands full with the Basic Health Care, First Aid, CPR and Nurse Assisting competitions. Skills checked included applying personal protective gear, use of an Epi-pen and defibrillator as well as transferring a 'stroke' victim from bed to wheelchair. There were also competitions in medical math, terminology and general knowledge. The awards were presented as follows:

Basic Health Care Skills: Gold – Carla Gagliardo, Silver – Kayla DeRaps, Bronze – Melissa Trotter. First Aid: Gold – Kayla DeRaps, Silver – Melissa Trotter, Bronze – D'Anna Mayer. Nurse Assisting: Gold – Carla Gagliardo, Silver – Melissa Trotter, Bronze – Kayla DeRaps.

Medical Math: Gold – Kelli Sousa, Silver – Jade Morse, Bronze – Meagan Weeks. Medical Terminology: Gold – Sierra Harris and Kelli Sousa (tied), Silver – Taylor Butler, Bronze – Brittany Buotte and Carla Gagliardo (tied).

Health Knowledge Bowl: Gold – Taylor Butler, Kayla DeRaps, Carla Gagliardo and Samantha Richardson; Silver – Brittany Buotte, Desiree Dorr, Sierra Harris and Kelli Sousa, Bronze – D'Anna Mayer, Jade Morse, Amanda Piper and Samantha Richards

Besides TCTC's Program Skills Competitions, the one-day event also included a Leadership division, which involved public speaking, interviewing and promotional design skills. Action Skills: Gold – Glen Race, Silver – Tim Plante, Bronze – Bryan Hill. Extemporaneous Speech: Gold – Kelli Sousa, Silver – Cheyenne Bioski. Job Demonstration A: Gold – Kelli Sousa, Silver – Kelly Griffin, Bronze – Lee Woodman. Job Demonstration Open: Gold – Kymber Cookson, Silver – Greg Stewart.

Job Interview: Gold – Vanessa Cousins, Silver – Samantha Richardson, Bronze – Scott Loureiro. Prepared Speech: Gold – Benjamin Long.

Promotional Bulletin Board: Gold – Royce Rocha and Hali Tremblay, Silver – Morgan Blockler and Heather Plungy, Bronze – Samantha Nelson and Brittany Plungy. Quiz Bowl: 1st place – Dustin Hartman, 2nd – Lee Woodman, 3rd – David Pedone, 4th - Matt Rudge, 5th – Scott Loureiro.

State Pin Design: Gold – Felicia McAvoy, Silver – Angela Hafenecker, Bronze – Branin Blodgett. State Tee Shirt design: Gold – Branin Blodgett, Silver – Kaitlyn Keene, Bronze – Angela Hafenecker.

FMI on the TCTC programs and services contact Director Nick Vafiades at 924-7670 or msad46.org/TCTC."This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the SVWeekly.com and is used here with permission."