Hammonds honored for SkillsUSA National Championship
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Jones College student Preston Hammonds of Leakesville poses with his National Championship ring and banner with his family and friends after a special ceremony held recently on the Ellisville campus.
Photo Courtesy of Jones College
Special to the Herald
SkillsUSA 2019 Gold Medalists and Jones College sophomores Preston Hammonds of Leakesville, C.J. Hood of Ellisville and Lakelin Smith of Lucedale received Championship Rings during the career and technical organization’s last meeting of the year recently. The three CAD-engineering technology students won first place at State competition in April 2018, and first place at the National competition in July 2019.
“Welcome to ‘Winnersville’ because that’s exactly where you’re at,” ,” said JC Career and Technical Dean, Rod Tolbert. “Four gold medals came back to Mississippi from the SkillsUSA national competition and guess where three of them are? Right here at Jones College.”
“I commend you for your dedication to your project and for your dedication to this organization”
Jones College’s 2018 team won the state competition the first year SkillsUSA added the Engineering Design and Technology category, and then placed seventh at Nationals. The 2019 team of Hammonds, Hood and Smith also won first place at the State competition and Nationals with the “Standi-Strap.” Made from a 3-D printer, the Standi-Strap is a guitar stand and strap. Confident in their product, the student engineers and musicians said they were also confident in their presentation. However, their competitors from Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, had difficulty grasping a team from Mississippi could defeat them.
“Not only did these students have a great design, but it was also a project they actually believed in. I think that’s why they won first place,” said Ryan Hearn, a JC SkillsUSA advisor and JC civil engineering technology instructor. “Any questions about their project were answered with certainty.”
The three students and their advisors proudly showed off the Championship rings and the SkillsUSA 1st place banners they received as friends and family congratulated them for their accomplishment.
“Having my family here means more to me than the ring, but the ring is still pretty cool!” said Hammonds.
As for next year, Hammonds will not be participating in SkillsUSA. He was accepted in the Disney College Program and will be taking classes online while working in Orlando. Part of the appeal, Hammonds said is the opportunity to work with Disney’s Imagineers.
“It’s an amazing opportunity getting accepted since I want to be an Imagineer,” said Hammonds. “Nothing will look better than working at Disney and getting to work with the Imagineers for a week.”
