“I love building stuff. That’s what I’ve been doing all my life,” says Kevin Favela, a senior at J.Z. George High School.
He’ll take his carpentry skills and love of building to the upcoming state SkillsUSA contest, where he’ll compete in solo cabinetmaking.
Including Favela, about 20 J.Z. George High School students in Jeff Fulgham’s carpentry and construction classes are participating in the event, which will be held March 8-10 in Jackson.
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit national education organization run by students who are taking career and technical education classes. The organization helps students prepare for careers in trade and technical and skilled service occupations. It focuses on personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. The organization hosts annual regional, state and national competitions.
A couple of weeks ago, the J.Z. George students participated in the regional competition.
“I am proud of the kids who do the competition because it’s work,” said Fulgham. “They can’t just show up the day of competition and hope to compete; they have to get together and practice.”
Kevin Favela, a senior at J.Z. George High School, practices for the upcoming SkillsUSA cabinetry competition. (By Ruthie Robison)
Favela placed second in the cabinetry contest, which allowed him to advance to the state competition.
Fulgham said Favela’s knowledge of carpentry is unusual at his age.
“He knows a lot of stuff that a lot of kids don’t,” Fulgham said. “When they come to me in the first year, I have to teach them how to read a tape measure. That’s the first thing we do, and a lot of them have no clue; but Kevin’s been around people building stuff.”
Favela said construction has always been a part of his life.
“I’ve always been interested in construction,” he said. “Everything I learned, I learned it from my dad. He’s been doing it all his life.”
After graduating, Favela plans to major in construction engineering technology.
“I plan on continuing the construction legacy in the family,” he said.
For the cabinetry competition, Favela will first receive the plans for the cabinets.
“They actually make it a little more challenging because the dimensions they give you, you actually have to figure it out. You have to do some math with them,” said Fulgham.
Favela says he frequently has to use the Pythagorean Theorem for construction projects, but “I’ve always been pretty good at math.”
For regionals, the students had to build a box. At the state competition, Favela will also have to build doors, drawers and hinges.
If Favela advances to nationals, the challenge will become harder. He’ll have three days to build top and bottom cabinets.
Another student competing is Colten Brashear, who will be participating in the plumbing contest and is also running for state office.
For the plumbing contest, he’ll be given a wall, about 6 feet wide and 4 or 5 feet tall. Contestants “rough-in” hot and cold water lines with copper tubing and sanitary drainage, waste and vent lines with cast iron, and PVC plastic for a water closet, a bathroom, a washer box and a floor drain.
Brashear is looking forward to the event.
Colten Brashear, left, a junior at J.Z. George High School, solders a copper pipe in preparation for the SkillsUSA plumbing contest, while teacher Jeff Fulgham inspects. (By Ruthie Robison)
“I love going and being able to meet other people and watching what other people are able to do,” he said. “It’s just fun for me to learn new things.”
He’s also looking forward to running for state office and representing his school’s region of Mississippi. He’ll be campaigning during the competition. The SkillsUSA state officers are elected by other students. Each school participating has two voting delegates.
“Colten is smart,” said Fulgham. “He catches on really fast. I have a lot of students like that.”
Brashear said he feels good when competing and doesn’t get worried. “If you do good, you’ll do good,” he said.
Favela is competitive.
“I love building stuff — that’s what I’ve been doing all my life. I like meeting other people, but one of my biggest things is there are other people competing, and I don’t like seeing other people getting ahead of me,” he said. “So I always try to get ahead.”
Fulgham said his classes are not only for students who want to pursue careers in construction after high school.
“I have a lot of kids who don’t want to be carpenters when they grow up,” he said. So he tells them that’s fine, “but you can learn things here that, if you know how to do things around your house, will save you tons of money in the future.”
The students learn skills such as how to wire up receptacles and light switches, and how to build a shed.
“I tell them unless it’s heating and air, I don’t hire anybody at my house,” said Fulgham. “I handle it myself. I hope I can get them thinking that same way.”
At the last state SkillsUSA competition, which was two years ago because of the pandemic, the J.Z. George students won in the chapter display competition and went to nationals and competed in Louisville, Kentucky.
“That was our first year competing, so I was excited,” Fulgham said.
The national competition this year will be held June 20-24 in Atlanta.
A fundraiser is being held for the J.Z. George High School SkillsUSA program. The money will aid in travel expenses for the students to attend the state event.
“The most challenging thing for us is to raise money, because this is extracurricular; it’s not something that the school budgets. ... I have 20 kids going. I’ve got to have a hotel for two nights for 20 kids. We’ve got to pay for food for them,” said Fulgham.
Travel expenses and lodging are paid through donations or by the students. “Also for kids who can’t afford to pay their share, I tell them, ‘Don’t let money stop you from doing this; we’ll figure out a way to get the money for it,’” said Fulgham. “Those donations help.”
To donate online, visit https://bit.ly/34MfnHZ. Checks and cash donations can be mailed to J.Z. George High School, P.O. Box 398, North Carrollton, MS 38947. For more information about donating, contact Fulgham at jfulgham@ccsd.ms or 662-237-4701.
- Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7235 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
