Cody Morgan, junior, demonstrates the skills he competed on at the recent competition at NW-SCC.

A number of Franklin County student made their schools and teachers proud recently at a Career Tech Skills Competition at Northwest-Shoals Community College.

Students receive recognition for their abilities at the competition were Pierce Dolan, PCHS, torch, third place; Milton Fernandez, RHS, flux core, third place; Cody Morgan, PCHS, welding 6010, second place; Blanca Aguirre, Franklin County Career Tech Center, cosmetology, second place; Lesly Garcia, Franklin County Career Tech Center, nail care, first place; Alanis Welch, Franklin County Career Tech Center, nail care, second place; and Iris Uptain, Franklin County Career Tech Center, esthetics, third place.

Pierce Dolan, sophomore, won third place for his torch skills at the NWSCC competition.

“I got real nervous,” Morgan said. “You have a lot of people competing against you.”

For Dolan, this has been his first year in welding classes. “It’s something I always thought I could do,” he said. He said he enjoyed the competition. “I like a challenge.”

Instructor Justin Steele said the competition is good for his students and serves as a recruitment tool for NW-SCC.

Franklin County seniors Blanca Aguirre, Lesly Garcia, Alanis Welch and Iris Uptain each placed in their category in the Salon and Spa skills competition.

Career Tech Center Director Scott Wiginton commended Steele for his work with the students. “His experiences from working in the industry are invaluable to his students,” Wiginton said. “Real world application is what we try to do in all of our CTC programs. This year he had some younger students than years’ past. The future is very bright with the groups of students we have enrolled currently.” He also spoke highly of cosmetology instructor Lindsey Norwood, who is in her first year at the Career Tech Center and had four students place in the competition. “We are very fortunate to have someone that loves working with our students on a career in Cosmetology,” Wiginton said. “The group of students that will be leaving us in May are prepared for careers in Cosmetology and other related fields.”

Garcia earned first place in the nails competition for her peacock design, and Welch landed second place for her Old Hollywood theme. In the make-up competition, Uptain claimed third by transforming her model’s face into that of the state bird. “I made it pretty, but not so realistic. I put a beak on her face and bird markings,” Uptain said. Aguirre placed in cosmetology, for hairstyling. “They put a picture up, and you had to figure out (the cut) and then cut the hair and style it according to the picture,” she said. “I was very nervous. I thought I wasn’t going to win. I thought I did bad.”