LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College’s Whitney Suarez captured the gold medal in architectural drafting at the Idaho SkillsUSA competition held virtually earlier this month.
Suarez, who is from Lewiston, graduated last Friday with Presidential Honors and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Engineering Technology – Traditional Emphasis. She was also named the Technical & Industrial Division’s Outstanding Graduate.
Suarez competed in the State Leadership and Skills Conference for SkillsUSA, which drew 187 students from Idaho secondary and post-secondary schools. She won first place based on her resume and a written test. Usually when the competition is held in person, students also spend about 8 hours working on an architectural drafting/design project, but that portion was skipped since students were participating virtually.
Suarez also qualified to compete at the national meet in June but has chosen not to.
In addition, Suarez recently won a $200 cash prize for her entry into a contest to design an entrance way for Ann Morrison Park in Boise.
Because some of the state’s SkillsUSA competition could not be held even virtually this year, LC State held its own Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) repair competition. Deb Smith won the gold medal, marking the first time a woman has had the highest LC State score in the HVAC-R competition. Kevin Carpenter was second and Travis Schwenne was third. All three earned prizes donated by industry supporters.
For more information on LC State’s Technical & Industrial Division and programs, visit www.lcsc.edu/ti.