SkillsUSA competitor will represent U.S. against field of
international young talents
LEESBURG, Va. , Sept. 26,
2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Jordan Packer of Utah will compete in the upcoming WorldSkills
Competition 2022 Special Edition on Oct.
17-20. The international welding competition will be held at
the Lincoln Electric Welding Technology and Training Center in
Cleveland.
Packer is the sole U.S. competitor for the event, which is part
of a series of 61 competitions being held over 12 weeks in 15
countries and regions across Europe, North
America and East Asia
between Sept. 7 and Nov. 26,
2022.
"I am extremely excited to represent the greatest country on the
planet," Packer says. "Being able to represent the United States by doing something I love is
incredible." Packer, age 21, will test his skills against other
competitors from around the world. He earned the right to compete
through his performance at the USA
Final Weld-Off held last March at Alabama Robotics Technology Park.
Sponsored by the American Welding Society (AWS), the Weld-Off
consisted of four modules completed in 18 hours over
three-and-a-half days. To prepare, Packer practiced a minimum of 75
hours a week to master gas metal, gas tungsten, flux cored and
shielded metal arc welding, all while balancing school and family
life.
"Competing at this level requires the highest level of
dedication and work ethic that you can muster," says Packer, who is
completing the welding technology program at Utah State University Eastern. Once he earns his
associate degree, he plans to earn a bachelor's in manufacturing
engineering with a welding emphasis at Weber
State University (Utah).
While he will soon use his skills and knowledge to open his own
business, his focus for now is on his education and the upcoming
WorldSkills Competition.
For his training, Packer has been working closely with members
of the AWS WorldSkills USA
Competition Committee, including previous WorldSkills competitors
Chandler Vincent and Ray Connolly, the WorldSkills chief expert for
welding. "Nothing is more of a priority than your practice," Packer
says. "You are an Olympic athlete, and your life revolves around
that competition."
"Exceptional students like Jordan
Packer see WorldSkills as an opportunity to push themselves
while growing their technical skills and mental toughness," says
Chelle Travis, SkillsUSA's executive
director. "While Jordan hopes to stand on a podium with a gold
medal around his neck, I know whatever outcome this experience
brings will help create even stronger purpose behind the passion
for a trade skill he so clearly loves."
Jordan joined SkillsUSA in 2015 as a high school sophomore at
Provo (Utah) High School. He competed in Welding
three years in a row at the state level. In 2021, he was the state
gold medalist for the college/postsecondary division and competed
at the 2021 virtual SkillsUSA Championships, later earning his spot
to represent SkillsUSA on the 2022 WorldSkills Special Edition
Competition at the AWS Weld Off.
Over 1,000 competitors from 58 countries and regions will
participate in the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition.
These events reestablish the biennial cycle of WorldSkills
competitions that was disrupted due to the pandemic. Lincoln
Electric Training Center is hosting two events in October: the
WorldSkills Special Edition Construction Metal Work competition and
the Welding competition. Samsung Electronics is the overall event
sponsor for the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition.
Follow Jordan Packer and the
WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Cleveland @WorldSkillsUSA on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram and the hashtag #WorldSkillsUSA.
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry
founded in 1965 to strengthen the nation's skilled workforce.
Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop
necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills
grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every
student to succeed at work and in life, while helping to close the
skills gap in which millions of positions go unfilled. Through
SkillsUSA's championships program and curricula, employers have
long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and
with SkillsUSA's new credentialing process, they can now assess how
ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA serves nearly
400,000 members annually in our nation's high schools, colleges and
middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled
service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of
Education and U.S. Department of Labor as integral to career and
technical education. SkillsUSA has served 14.2 million members
since 1965. For more information, visit:
http://www.skillsusa.org.
About WorldSkills
Every two years, competitors from 85 countries and regions around
the world compete in more than 60 different trade skills at
WorldSkills. The next WorldSkills competition takes place
Sept. 10-15, 2024, in Lyon, France, showcasing trade skills from
construction and building technology, creative arts and fashion,
information and communication technology to manufacturing and
engineering, personal services and transportation and logistics.
Since 1950, WorldSkills has come to symbolize the pinnacle of
excellence in vocational training. It provides a unique means of
exchange and comparison of world-class competency standards in the
industrial trades and service sectors of the global economy. The
continued growth of WorldSkills attests to the fact that
traditional trade and craft skills, along with newer technology's
multi-skilled occupations, make an essential contribution to the
economic and social well-being of people everywhere. For more
information, go to: http://www.worldskills.org
Media Contact
Jane DeShong Short, SkillsUSA,
703-737-0612, jshort@skillsusa.org
Karen Kitzel, SkillsUSA,
703-737-0607, kkitzel@skillsusa.org
SOURCE SkillsUSA