2021 Texas SkillsUSA – Cabinetmaking Competition

The annual Texas SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking Competition took place online this year, after the 2020 competition was completely canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  3 Students from 3 Texas Districts made it past their District competitions to compete against each other virtually on Saturday, April 17. 

The Texas State Contestants are:

Hayden Clark, District 7 (College Station H.S., College Station)
Steven Cantu, District 11 (Medina Valley H.S., Castroville)
Mario Garcia, District 13 (Sharyland Pioneer H.S., Mission)

Saturday at 8am, the students, their advisors, 3 judges, Jim Kollaja and Pat Conner settled in for 5-1/2 hours of Zoom competition.  We were encouraged to see that Mario Garcia decided to press on through this difficult time and join us in the wake of his advisor’s passing.

All materials, prizes and gift bags had been donated, prepared and ready to go prior to 2020’s cancelation.  Special thanks to Brochsteins, who kindly stored all items, and then shipped each bundle to the students at the beginning of April.  Each student received a stack of materials (all pre-cut but with at least one incorrect dimension), drawings and a package with thank-you gifts.

Each student/advisor team was given a list of Prerequisites for the competition, like a Table Saw, Miter Saw, Rabbeting station, Pocket Screw jig, Cordless Drill/Driver, and other various hand tools. New for this year was the requirement for 2 zoom connected cameras for Judge observation. One would be handheld, and one setup to see a broad view of the activities. The whole competition would be recorded and accessible to the judges for review.

Design

The design of the cabinet for 2021 was a holdover from the 2020 competition.  It was a small Maple End Table, with a Drawer and Shelf. The drawer rides on roller slides and utilizes rabbeted joinery. The shelf is to be notched around the 4 legs and secured to the nailers with pocket screws. All fasteners should be hidden from view.

Ready, Set, GO!

Things started off with a brief orientation and technical check.  Then they were off – unwrapping their materials, creating their cutlists and beginning to cut the parts needed to build the cabinet.  Things were going very well despite a few technical Zoom issues and by 2pm, the announcement was made to stop work – the contest was complete.

Each student was asked to take their handheld video device and show their work to the judges.  The judges were able to request specific views and ask questions about their overall thoughts of the competition.  The judges had the students show the various features of the cabinet design, such as the use of ‘Kreg’ pocket holes to secure the top and shelf, rabbets for the drawer box, and manual application of wood veneer edgebanding.

1^st Place: Hayden Clark, District 7 (College Station H.S., College Station)
$1500 Scholarship (Provided by Texas AWI in Honor of the Lutz Family)
And Prizes below:

2nd Place: Steven Cantu, District 11 (Medina Valley H.S., Castroville)
$1000 Scholarship (Provided by Texas AWI in Honor of Bob and Patsy Goebel)
Prizes below:

3rd Place: Mario Garcia, District 13 (Sharyland Pioneer H.S., Mission)
$500 Scholarship (Provided by Texas AWI)
Prizes below:

https://youtu.be/sRHPHV3rUJY?t=4201

A very special thanks goes to all the prize donors, Brochsteins for organizing a successful event and Chase Chappell and Richard Shelley for observing and judging the event. 

Thank you to the students, advisors and Pat Conner for making this event a success! We look forward to seeing each of them again next year, in-person, at the 2022 competition in Corpus Christi!

Special thanks to Jim Kollaja for his continued support of this ever-important endeavor – we couldn’t do it without you! Your dedication to these kids shows year after year.