Fifteen North Point High School students advance to the national Skills USA competition after winning first place at the state event held May 5 at the Center of Applied Technology North, located in Anne Arundel County. They will represent Charles County Public Schools at the national event scheduled for June 25-26 in Kansas City, Mo.

The first-place winners are:

• Brandon Morrison, senior, Criminal Justice;
• Elizabeth Prinkey, senior, Culinary Arts;
• Stephanie Agbe-Davies, senior, Health Occupations Professional Portfolio;
• Kha-Ai Tran, junior, Medical Math;
• Majesta Kitts, senior, Medical Terminology;
• Alexander Corbin, junior; Alphonso Lopez, junior; Noah Gibson, sophomore; Ashlynn Stanley, sophomore; Joel Rogers, freshman; Alyssa Moffat, junior; and Breanna Spangler, junior; Quiz Bowl; and
• Margaret Campbell, Julia Sutherland and Kiersten Rawson, juniors, Tech Prep-Health Science.

The following North Point students also placed at the state event:

• Jacqueline Veasey and Alexandra Garner, seniors, American Spirit, second place;
• Sarah Younan, senior, Health Occupations Professional Portfolio, second place;
• Lauren Brown, senior, Medical Assisting, second place;
• Bria Butler, senior, Medical Terminology, second place;
• Katie Doran, senior, Nurse Assisting, second place;
• Jacqueline James, senior, Preschool Teaching Assistant, third place;
• Aaliyah Bailey, senior, Customer Service, third place; and
Rosemary Crowl, Valen Gordon, Brooke Hayes and Alauna Martinez, seniors, Health Knowledge Bowl, third place.

Students from the Robert D. Stethem Educational Center also competed at the state level. The following students earned awards:

• Abram Brooks and Isaiah Perez, juniors, Web design, fourth place;
• Kelly Dingess, James Graves, Alyson Hughes and Tashara Mitchell, juniors, Broadcast news, seventh place; and
• Garrett Moreland, junior, Photography, ninth place.

The Skills USA/VICA regional competition is a showcase event for career and technology students in the tri-county area. The students compete locally and continue through the state and national levels. The philosophy of the competition is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to train students for employer needs.

Charles County Public Schools provides 26,700 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 35 caring community schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Patricia Vaira, Title IX Coordinator and Section 504 Coordinator (students), or Keith Hettel, Section 504 Coordinator (employees/adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, Maryland 20646; (301) 932-6610/870-3814. For special accommodations call (301) 934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.