MARLBOROUGH – Fifteen student leaders from Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School were among hundreds of students who recently took part in a statewide student leadership conference in Marlborough. The event, held November 18^th-20^th, was sponsored by Massachusetts SkillsUSA.

GNB Voc-Tech students attending the Fall State Leadership Conference included Sarah Andrade, William Barboza, Joshua Berube, Sean Carney, Joseph DeMello, Aaron Eddleston, Aaron Fineberg, Casey Freitas, Phat Luu, Leah Murphy, Michael Parker, Jillian Raposa, Cortney Rebello, Jennifer Vargas, and Jaryd Walker.

The Fall State Leadership Conference is designed for Chapter Advisors and Chapter Officers to help them build strong SkillsUSA chapters at their schools. Participants undergo intensive leadership training in areas such as communication skills, group dynamics, and employability skills.

Students who attended received leadership pins by completing a checklist demonstrating knowledge about SkillsUSA.

The students met peers from 42 other Massachusetts SkillsUSA chapters including 25 other vocational-technical high schools.

Students from GNB Voc-Tech were chosen by their teachers and were given this opportunity because of their outstanding ability in their career and technical field and their potential for becoming leaders in the community and in their SkillsUSA chapters.

Several teachers accompanied the students to the conference. They included SkillsUSA chapter advisor Michael Lipp, English teachers Meghan Lacasse and Lisa Koczera, and Information Technology teacher Maciel Pais.

Throughout the year, students in SkillsUSA take part in competition at the school, district, state and national levels. During the SkillsUSA competitions, students test their skills in various categories, ranging from computer applications to welding.