Dalton Sophomore Takes Bronze in National SkillsUSA Competition

(Atlanta, Ga., July 8, 2009) – Yea Jee Bae, a rising junior at Dalton High School in Dalton, GA, placed third in the National SkillsUSA Advertising Design Championship, held June 21-26 in Kansas City, MO. The gold medal went to Victoria Brown, Del Sol High School, Las Vegas, NV and the silver went to Pedro Miramontes from Pocatello High School, Pocatello, ID. The competition was part of the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference where more than 5,400 outstanding career and technical education students joined in the excitement of hands-on competition in 91 different trade, technical, and leadership fields.

Contestants earned the opportunity to compete at the national event by placing first in regional, and then state, competitions. In addition to family and friends, Bae had members of the Printing & Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG) and AIGA, the professional association of designers, cheering for her. PIAG’s Educational Foundation hosted the state competition in April at the Print Media Demonstration Center at Heidelberg USA in Kennesaw. PIAG also provided a travel scholarship for Bea and her advisor, Nancy Hallsworth, to attend the National Competition. AIGA provided a scholarship to Bae for continued study.

“I had never been to the National competition,” said Nancy Hallsworth, a graphics instructor and Bae’s advisor at Dalton High School. “I did not truly grasp the magnitude of the Skills organization until now. It is amazing.”

SkillsUSA is a national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. It sponsors the SkillsUSA Championships annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations. The contests are planned by technical committees made up of representatives of labor and management and are designed to test the skills needed for a successful entry-level performance in given occupational fields.

###

About SkillsUSA SkillsUSA (www.skillsusa.org) is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. The organization serves more than 280,000 students and instructors annually and has 13,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations. More than 14,500 instructors and administrators are professional members of SkillsUSA.

About The Printing & Imaging Association Educational Foundation
The PIAG Educational Foundation (www.piag.org/education) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1985 as the educational and charitable arm of the Printing & Imaging Association of Georgia. The Foundation provides educational opportunities to industry professionals, career awareness programs for students and instructors and scholarship opportunities. The Foundation also promotes the printing and imaging profession within the state to future industry leaders and potential customers.