Downey students earn national recognition at 2025 SkillsUSA Championships

Photo courtesy SkillsUSA

ATLANTA — Several Downey-area students were recognized for their outstanding performance at the 2025 SkillsUSA Championships, held June 25–26 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The national competition, which serves as the country’s largest showcase of career and technical education, brought together more than 6,500 students from across the nation to demonstrate their skills in over 100 occupational and leadership contests.

Among the honorees were students from Downey High School and Warren High School, who earned medals and Skill Point Certificates — a credential signifying workplace readiness in a specific field.

Local Medal Winners

Albert Perez, a student at Slawson Occupational Center in Bell and a Downey resident, earned the bronze medal in the college/postsecondary division for Building Maintenance.

A team of students from Warren High School, listed as Team R (Melissa Avila, Kathleen Morales-Rodriguez, Maryann Kasouha, Haylee Sanchez, Sofia Mesa, Valeria Castaneda, and Sophia Casillas), received the silver medal in the high school division for Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Skill Point Certificate Recipients

In addition to the medalists, several Downey students were recognized with Skill Point Certificates for demonstrating excellence and proficiency in their respective contests:

Chris Chung, Downey High School – Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Home
Lizette Ruiz, Warren High School – Esthetics
Team Q (Sienna Dill, Nikolas Espinoza), Downey High School – Interactive Application and Video Game Development
Team X (Alexandria Fuentes, Amy Flores), Warren High School – Additive Manufacturing
Emiliano Cruz, Slawson Occupational Center – Barbering

Also receiving a Skill Point Certificate was Team L from Lynwood High School (Aileen Gonzalez, David Avitia, Eve Martinez) for Occupational Health and Safety-Single.

“More than 6,500 students from every state in the nation participated in the 2025 SkillsUSA Championships,” said Chelle Travis, executive director of SkillsUSA. “This showcase of career and technical education demonstrates SkillsUSA at its finest. Our students, instructors, and industry partners work together to ensure that every student excels.”

The SkillsUSA Championships is part of the National Leadership & Skills Conference and is considered the world’s largest skill competition, covering 1.79 million square feet—equal to 31 football fields. Competitions were judged by representatives from more than 850 businesses and trade associations, with over 1,200 industry professionals serving as judges and technical committee members.

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. Representing over 442,000 members across 130 occupational areas, SkillsUSA is a critical solution to the national skills gap. Since its founding in 1965, the organization has served more than 15 million students.

For more information, visit skillsusa.org.