SkillsUSA National Gold Medalist Follows Path Toward Career in Manufacturing

Adam Prante, a Medina, Ohio, County Career Center student, was named 2013 SkillsUSA CNC Lathe Gold Medalist at the recent SkillsUSA championship competition in Kansas City. He was one of 30,000 students participating in the national competition, competing across a range of technical disciplines. Adam outplaced his closest competitor in the CNC Lathe Turning, Skills USA finals by more than 45 minutes, utilizing his passion for the industry and quest for advanced knowledge to the fullest. Adam won state and regional championships to earn a national competition invitation.

His interest in manufacturing developed out of his love for making parts and installing them on his pickup truck, a custom 1996 Chevrolet S10. As a high school junior, he chose to enroll at STEM-focused Medina (Ohio) County Career Center. There, Adam enjoyed the benefits of hands-on training and online learning, the latter via the Tooling U-SME integrated learning tool. A sponsor of SkillsUSA, Tooling U-SME is currently in 450 schools and training more than 225,000 students.

For many students, career and technical education is a more immediate path to a well-paying career. According to “The Hidden STEM Economy,” a recent study from the Brookings Institute, half of all jobs involving science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) are available to workers without a 4-year college degree, with an average annual wage of $53,000.

Adam, who recently graduated from high school, is currently participating in the second of a 3-year National Tooling & Machine Association apprenticeship program at Sattler Machine Products in Sharon Center, Ohio. Adam hopes to build on his lathing skills and participate in the 2015 WorldSkills Competition to be held in Brazil.